


Today of All Days

by Planteria



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Bending (Avatar TV), Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Disaster Sokka (Avatar), Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Bisexual Zuko (Avatar), Cheating, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Lesbian Mai (Avatar), Light Angst, Lockdown/Quarantine, M/M, Pansexual Ty Lee (Avatar), Past Sokka/OC (Avatar), Past Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Past Sokka/Yue (Avatar), Tattoos, Therapy, Trust Issues, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, it's more stupid than anything else ngl, this definitely isn't as angsty as it should be
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:41:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 20,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27610844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Planteria/pseuds/Planteria
Summary: There's nothing like getting kicked out of an IHOP for crying into a stack of pancakes to make you reconsider your life choices.Sokka was already well aware that he fell in love too fast. He never really gave himself enough time to get to know people before giving his heart to them. So here he was, standing in a tattoo shop, just a few hours after he had walked in on his girlfriend cheating on him with his best friend, ready to not fall in love again for along time."Can I help you?""Uh... yeah." The stranger was beautiful. And Sokka was stupid.Don't do this again, you idiot.Evidentally, Sokkawouldn'ttake his own advice.[Or Sokka gets cheated on and gets a tattoo as a coping mechanism. Despite himself, he falls in love with the tattoo artist, Zuko, at first sight and Zuko seems to care about Sokka a confusing amount. Lockdown, hijinks, healing, and clown behavior ensue.]
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 70
Kudos: 160





	1. Heaven Help a Fool who Falls in Love

**Author's Note:**

> hey y'all, so this is based off of [this song](https://youtu.be/7Er1yXWsUjs) because people say it [sounds like Sokka](https://www.tiktok.com/@aldothehero/video/6848446888845282566?lang=en&sender_device=pc&sender_web_id=6851733207545841158&is_from_webapp=1) is singing it?? The title comes from ["Achilles Come Down" by Gang of Youth](https://youtu.be/n5aMav6q-o0) and the chapter title is from ["Ophelia" by The Lumineers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVcy0YdEz0M)  
> forewarning, I use the name "Kustaa" for a pet dog in this. don't be confused.  
>  **important note:** I use links throughout my stuff. they're not viruses, please click them  
> also note: i'm in university so i have this all planned out, it may just take me a while to get it written so have patience

“Hey, guys, I’m back… where are you guys?” Silence. At the sound of Sokka’s voice, Kustaa perked up from his dog bed in the corner of the living room. There was a faint jingle of dog tags as  [ the hound ](https://www.petguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/irish-wolfhound-21.jpg) got up, but nothing else.  _ Something’s not right, _ Sokka thought, a hand rubbing his dog’s head absentmindedly. 

“Guys?” Sokka called out once again. It wasn’t like Norreq or  [ Kaya ](https://avatar.fandom.com/wiki/Kaya_\(village_girl\)) to be this quiet. Kaya was a big personality in a small body and had never learned to whisper or even just speak at a normal volume. Norreq was the opposite, soft-spoken and pretty reserved but he was noisy in  _ many _ different ways, usually the result of clumsiness. They both knew Sokka was coming back; they wouldn’t just leave without telling him, right? He pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked over the last text he had gotten. 

♥️Kaya♥️

_ hey Sok when will you be home?  _

_ Nor and I made chicken and rice for dinner, we’ll leave you some in the microwave _

_ Cool, thanks. Things just got busy at the lab _

_ I’ll probs be home a bit later still _

_ Ilysm  _ ♥️

_ ily ♥️ _

They were from an hour ago. Still, nothing to indicate they had gone out anywhere or that they were going to bed uncharacteristically early. It was only eight o’clock for fuck’s sake. No reasonable adult in their mid-twenties went to bed this early.  _ Something’s wrong. _ Sokka scrubbed a hand over his eye and walked to the kitchen.  _ It’s fine. Don’t be dumb. They’re probably just trying to prank you.  _ Sokka stared at the chicken sitting on a plate before him in the microwave, brain searching for the date.  _ It wasn’t my birthday today, was it? _ No, it was definitely still March and definitely not his birthday.  _ They’re probably trying to see how long it will take you to figure out where they’re hiding or they’ve hidden something weird in plain sight and are waiting for you to react to it.  _ He settled on that explanation with resolve. It was fine. It was okay. 

There was a crash from his room. Without much more thought, Sokka closed the microwave and rushed to the other side of the apartment, Kustaa at his heels. He didn’t remember whether or not he ran there, he only remembered opening the door to Kaya still laying naked in their bed and Norreq on the ground with his pants half on. Sokka may have been working on his PhD, but it didn’t take a doctor to figure out what he walked into. 

“What the fuck!” Sokka only heard himself yell it. It didn’t feel like the words came from him. Obviously they had because Kaya and Norreq were staring at him in shock. 

“I can explain,” Kaya rushed, wrapping the comforter around herself and standing up. Sokka stepped back out of the doorway. Norreq was also attempting to get up as well, but he tripped over his half-on pant leg. It would have been funny in another context. Kustaa padded over to him and licked the side of his face. Traitor. 

“Explain what?” The words actually came from Sokka this time. “That this isn’t what it looks like? That you’re both not actually naked? That you two didn’t just have sex in  _ our _ bedroom, Kaya?” Something inside him broke a little, his stomach aching. Saying things always made them feel real. Kaya faltered. And that was it. Sokka left. He didn’t remember grabbing his keys or his jacket or walking back out to his car; but that’s where he found himself. Driving down the expressway with directions plugged in for IHOP. 

* * *

“I’m sorry, sir,” a middle aged woman in a black-button down said. She was towering above him, standing directly over his table where he was just trying to drown his sorrows in breakfast food. “But I’m going to have to ask you to pay and leave.” 

Sokka sat up straighter in the booth, eyebrows knitting together in confusion. “What?” he asked with a sniffle. As far as he was aware, no one was really paying him any mind, nestled into the corner of the IHOP near a window. Sure, he had been crying into several stacks of pancakes for the last hour and the waitress  _ had _ looked concerned—but the waitress also looked like she was sixteen. She wasn’t old enough to have cried through meals during finals week. She couldn’t’ve known how  _ cathartic _ it was. 

“It’s just that you’re making the waitstaff and the other customers uncomfortable.” Sokka blinked. Today just  _ kept _ getting better and better. 

“How am I making them uncomfortable?” he asked defensively, already getting his wallet out to pay. There was no recovering from this. He was only making this worse by talking.  _ I knew I should’ve gone to the one in Ypsilanti instead of driving out to Canton. Ypsi’s  _ [ _ a college _ ](https://www.emich.edu/) _ town; they would’ve gotten it, right? _

The woman looked pained and faked a smile. “Sir, I just need you to pay and leave, please,” she said, much more forcefully this time and sliding a paper receipt towards him. He felt the urge to argue boil up in him, but he swallowed it back down with an equally forced smile. Sokka could tell when things weren’t going to work out in his favor. 

“Sorry for the disturbance,” he said, crinkling his eyes and slapping a twenty down on the table. “You can keep the change.” And for a second time that night, he grabbed his keys and left. There’s nothing like getting kicked out of an IHOP to make you reevaluate your life choices. 

Sokka thought he had been making good ones. He had applied to a bunch of different colleges, including out-of-state ones. He wanted to cast a wide net and that must have been the right thing. [Michigan Tech](https://www.mtu.edu/admissions/scholar/) _had_ offered him a full-ride for his undergraduate degree. And he _had_ accepted. Sure, he did end up changing his major three times, but it was fine. It was where he and Norreq reconnected as freshmen—or fresh _people_ as Katara would often correct him. They had grown up together near Traverse City, only separated when Sokka’s mom died and the family moved up to a small town near Marquette to live with Gran-Gran. He’d never admit it to Katara, but it had felt like more than a coincidence that he and Norreq just happened to be roommates that first year. Because their friendship would pick up right where it left off. They would be basically inseparable after that first semester.

He ran his hands over his face as he settled back into his car.  _ Stupid motherfucking, Norreq… Stupid motherfucking, Kaya. _ If Sokka was  _ truly _ being honest with himself, part of him had known from the beginning that it wasn’t going to work out. He knew that he fell in love too fast, that he never really gave himself enough time to get to know people. But it had been fine with Yue and Suki; he and Yue just wanted different things in life. That was a-okay. They were only in high school when they dated so it wasn’t that big of a deal. Later, it turned out that Suki and him just worked better as friends than romantic partners. That was fine. They could still be friends. He still kept in touch with both of them and just didn't expect Kaya to be different. Sure, they had started dating after they had drunkenly made-out at a bar. And sure, he had moved her in with him and Norreq after only knowing her for three months. But all his break ups had been amicable. He never anticipated…  _ this. _

Somewhere in the cupholder near him, Sokka’s phone buzzed. A new wave of frustration washed over him in anticipation but quelled at the name on the screen. Aang. 

_ hey hey hey _

_ i need ur opinion  _

_ on something _

_ if i brew coffee with nyquil _

_ will they cancel out _

_ or  _

_ will i be fast tired?????? _

Sokka wasn’t sure what Katara saw in him romantically. He was fairly certain that the only reason Aang had thought of this at all was because of Toph; the two of them together were a little too chaotic for their own good at times. Sokka sighed, a pit of longing aching in his stomach for his found family. They had all met at Michigan Tech during Sokka’s junior year of undergrad. Sure, he and Norreq were close, but the group of misfits just… got him in a way Norreq didn’t. Probably it was the trauma. They didn’t hang out all together often, but he still felt like family. The memory helped subside some of the regret webbing up in him. 

_ You’d be fast tired, for sure  _

Sokka hesitated. Should he ask Aang to call? More than likely Aang was with Katara (he followed her like a lost puppy half the time) and she would be mad that Sokka went to Aang and not her first. But knowing her, if he told her what happened, she would drive all the way down to Ann Arbor that night and probably get herself arrested. He loved his sister, but she was a  [ force to be reckoned ](https://youtu.be/Tlwda9S58Lg) with when angry. Similarly, if Aang was more than likely with Toph, then Suki would probably also be there and could stop Katara from being impulsive. But did he want an ex to know about his most recent break up? Sure, they were friends, but he got the feeling it would bruise his ego even further. 

Sighing again, Sokka just sat the phone back on the passenger seat. He really needed to get out of his head. Being alone with his thoughts and crying into pancakes weren’t healthy coping mechanisms. Calling Aang to talk about nothing would help; but did he  _ really _ want to hear about what was happening in his Anthropology classes? Probably not. Sokka may have a degree in Psychology, but he could only talk about people and cultures for so long. 

The light of the parking lot lamp flickered above him; the bulb gradually burning out. He stared up at it for a moment through his sunroof. Could he stay in this parking lot all night? Would they let him sleep in his car here? Probably not, considering they kicked him out just for crying. He absolutely couldn’t go back to the apartment. But he didn’t have enough money in his checking account to get a good hotel room. And he didn’t want to risk getting bitten by bed bugs or getting lice from some shitty place. Alternatively, he could try sleeping inside of a superstore. Unfortunately, the IKEA had closed at nine, but maybe he could find a  [ Meijer’s ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meijer) and sleep under one of the clothing racks.  _ Damn, that’s a pathetic option _ , he thought to himself.  _ Spending money does always make me feel better, though. I could go there to actually shop… Target would probably be better. _ And with that, he sat in the parking lot of IHOP, staring up at a dimming lamp and definitely not moving. 

* * *

“Use the right lane to take the exit,” his phone directed from the passenger seat. Sokka was well aware that he was being impulsive with money he really didn’t have.  _ This is not a healthy coping mechanism, and you know it, _ his thoughts reminded him. He turned his music up louder. Indeed, he  _ was _ well aware that this was not a healthy coping mechanism. Part of him just really didn’t care. It had been almost two hours since he had found out his girlfriend was cheating on him with who he  _ thought _ was his best friend. It had been almost two hours since he had seen or heard from  _ either _ of them. And, man, did it  _ hurt. _ It hurt more than repeatedly stabbing a needle into his skin would. It hurt more than cutting his own foot off… probably. He didn’t exactly have experience in that department (and he assumed breaking your leg  _ once  _ didn’t count). 

“Turn left into the parking lot.” He glanced briefly over at the map just to confirm he was in the right place. The parking lot was nearly empty for being right off an expressway and close to several main roads.  _ Maybe not everyone’s getting tattoos at ten o’clock at night, _ he reminded himself. It just felt surreal. In the last year, he had grown accustomed to how  _ busy _ this part of the state was. He felt like there were just so many people everywhere  _ all the time. _ It was worrying to feel  _ alone  _ here.  _ Maybe I need to start seeing someone about my anxiety again, _ he thought absently as he pulled into a spot. 

“Arrived,” his phone announced. Quickly, he hit the button to turn it off and looked over at the neon sign in the window.  _ The T. Shop. _ The place looked like it was an old coffee shop that had been renovated to be a tattoo parlor.  _ Clever, _ Sokka thought to himself with a small smile. He always appreciated a good pun.

Grabbing the napkin he had scribbled a design onto, Sokka got out, locking the door behind him. He may be impulsive with getting a tattoo, but the design he had been thinking about for a while. Kaya had talked him out of getting it several times because it was “dumb.” He would admit that it  _ was _ kind of… sort of… a little stupid, but it was his skin. Maybe he  _ wanted _ something dumb.

A bell rang above Sokka’s head as he pushed open the door into the shop. It was quaint. The floors were hard wood, the walls were dark green, the lights were bright. Early 2000s rock played faintly from speakers near the low ceiling. It definitely wasn’t what Sokka was expecting from a tattoo place, but it was… nice.

“Can I help you?” a voice asked, somewhere to Sokka’s left. As he turned to find it, his heart nearly stopped. There, sitting behind what he assumed was the front desk, was the prettiest man he had ever laid eyes on. Sokka happened to be a bisexual who preferred women, but  _ holy  _ _ shit. _ He had shaggy black hair, black nail polish, and a  [ septum ring. ](https://www.tiktok.com/@seanghedi/video/6875789870539885829?lang=en&sender_device=pc&sender_web_id=6851733207545841158&is_from_webapp=1) The lightest pair of brown eyes Sokka had ever seen were staring back at him. The guy’s skin was nearly flawless except for a scar covering his left eye. He was beautiful. Sokka was stupid.  _ Don’t do this again, you idiot,  _ he thought, mentally kicking himself for gaping at this stranger.  _ We don’t have to be  _ _ that _ _ much of a bisexual disaster.  _

Sokka smiled, “Uh… yeah, I was wondering if you take walk-ins? Otherwise I can come back some other time.” The beautiful stranger just sat up a bit and closed his book, a well-worn copy of  _ The Poems of Emily Dickinson. _ Sokka was stupidly in love. 

“Luckily for you,” he began, rummaging for something behind the counter. “My ten o’clock didn’t show and they just missed their fifteen minute grace period, so yes.” Sokka recognized the smile he received as being for  [ polite customer service. ](https://beautygraceouterspace.tumblr.com/post/634692010683564032/youdonthavetogotocollege-gaspack-male-thot) “Just know that since you’re a walk-in, I can’t do anything bigger than the size of a dollar bill. It also can’t take me more than half an hour because we close at eleven.” 

“That’s fine,” Sokka replied as he was handed a clipboard. “Shouldn’t be an issue.”

“Great. So while you fill out that, can I see your design?” 

“Oh,” Sokka blinked. “Uh, yeah, sure.” Now he was embarrassed to be handing over a crinkled old napkin to a pretty stranger. This dude was going to think he was a disaster… he  _ was, _ but that wasn’t the kind of first impression he wanted to make. He tried not to take offense to the internal cringe that the tattoo artist was so plainly experiencing as he took the napkin from Sokka. Today just really wasn’t his day. 

There were a few minutes of silence as Sokka filled out the papers. He could feel this guy silently judging him over the tattoo design and the napkin and counted himself lucky that they would never cross paths again after this. Sokka was really ready for this day to be over with. He wanted to get this tattoo and then drive his car to some well-lit parking lot of a 24-hour Wendy’s or Target and sleep for the night. In the morning, he’d call around to see if there were any therapists with openings. After that, he would have to try to figure out his housing situation and—

“I have to be honest, I don’t know what I’m looking at.” Sokka looked up at the dark-haired stranger who was staring at him exhaustedly. 

“What?” 

“I tried figuring it out, but I just don’t know what it is.” And  _ that _ stung Sokka’s pride a little… just the smallest bit… barely hurt at all. 

Sokka readjusted himself in his seat. “Oh, it’s just a bull’s eye. I tried drawing a foot so you could tell I want it on the back of my ankle.” The guy raised his one eyebrow. 

“It’s a bull’s eye?” 

Sokka hesitated. “Yes.” 

“And you want it on your ankle?” 

“Specifically, my  [ Achilles tendon. ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achilles_tendon_rupture#/media/File:Achilles-tendon.jpg) ” The incredulity drained from the tattoo artist’s face as he closed his eyes and mumbled something under his breath. Sokka’s heart fluttered. This man just kept getting prettier. 

“I will give it to you that that is kind of clever,” he said after a moment. A pause. “What color ink do you want it in?” 

“Black is fine. It’ll match my other ones.” The guy just nodded, mumbling something about getting stuff set up before disappearing into a back room. 

After a moment, the guy came back, black hair ruffled in a different way than before and his septum ring slightly crooked. This dude was unfairly and effortlessly attractive. Sokka smiled a little when he silently asked for the clipboard back. 

“I never got your name,” Sokka said nonchalantly. 

“Zuko,” he replied simply.  _ Zuko. _ It wasn't a name you heard often. Sokka smiled a bit more but felt a pang in his chest. He recognized that he shouldn’t let himself crush on this guy. Things wouldn’t work out anyway, no matter how much he felt like they would.

“In case you can't read, I’m Sokka.” 

Zuko hummed in an  _ incredibly _ unamused way. 

“Sokka, can I see your ID?” He skipped a beat. “I just want to make sure you're over 18.” 

“Oh, yeah, of course, man,” Sokka replied quickly, fumbling for his wallet. He sure did make a fool of himself around  [ pretty people. ](https://www.instagram.com/p/CEP33xOAaXz/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet) Zuko glanced at Sokka’s driver's license and hummed. Sokka desperately wanted this conversation to continue, but part of him could tell Zuko was just trying to make small talk for customer service.  _ It’s not okay to flirt with people while they're working, _ he reminded himself.  _ Just let it go, dumbass. You  _ _ just _ _ got cheated on.  _

“You can sit back down,” Zuko said to him after a moment. “I have a few last things to do and then I’ll come get you when I’m ready.”

“Alright,” Sokka mumbled, obliging. And just like that, Zuko was gone again. Something about the tattoo shop kept Sokka from losing himself in his own head. Maybe it was the music in the background or the intricate designs painted on the walls. But something was keeping his spirits up and not feeling like utter shit again. 

That was, until, his phone buzzed.

Kaya. 

She was finally calling him and he almost felt… relieved. He supposed it took her long enough. It was almost ten thirty at night now. Maybe she had expected him to come back. Maybe Kustaa was getting on her nerves again. Whatever it was, Sokka didn't care. There was a pang of sadness in him that was quickly overswept with bitter spite. He simply clicked the power button and let it go to voicemail. 

“Sokka?” The sound of his own name snapped him back into reality. Zuko peaked around a corner, motioning for Sokka to follow him. He was led into the back room to where what looked like a medical exam table was set up for him, paper and everything. “You can sit for right now, but once we get started I’ll need you to lie on your stomach.” 

“Yeah, no problem,” Sokka reassured, sitting on the edge of the table. Almost silence settled back in. Sokka tried not to feel the urge to cry that was beginning to work its way to the surface again. 

“So this isn't your first tattoo?” Zuko asked, more small talk. 

“No,” Sokka said with a small laugh, trying to sound upbeat. Crying in an IHOP was one thing. Crying in front of an attractive stranger was another. “I have a quarter sleeve on my left arm.” 

“When’d you get that done?” Zuko asked absentmindedly as he prepared the needle. Sokka was fairly certain he didn't actually care. It was just small talk. Polite. No real interest in it.

“When I was sixteen.” 

The comment made Zuko stop and look up at him. “You… got a… quarter sleeve… at sixteen?” The question was slow, as if Zuko was trying to make sense of what he had just heard.

“Yep,” Sokka said, popping his p. “Wanna see?” 

“Yes. But only because I need to know what a sixteen-year-old would possibly get in a sleeve.” With that Sokka pulled off his sweatshirt and rolled the sleeve of his t-shirt. If it was possible, Zuko seemed to get paler,  [ recognition ](https://indigenouscontemporaryart.tumblr.com/post/155592620493/bodymodorigins-traditional-inuit-tattoo) flashing across his face. “Oh shit. I’m sorry. I didn't consider that it might be something cultural.” 

“Wait… you recognize it? I have to explain it to most people, ” Sokka said, more surprised than offended. 

Zuko froze, eyes a little wide. “It’s—that’s Inuit, isn't it?” Sokka nodded. He should know better than to let himself love this stranger even more. “It’s really well done. I’m sorry if I insulted you or anything and—”

“Nah, it’s all good, dude,” Sokka interrupted. “I know sixteen-year-olds can be stupid. I'm not offended.” He paused, not really considering whether he should continue his thought or not. “If it makes you feel better, I still was stupid because I got this done in my Gran’s friend’s basement.” 

“What?” Zuko asked, incredulous.

“In my defense, Suluna had been doing them for years with her  [ sewing needles ](https://indigenouscontemporaryart.tumblr.com/search/inuit%20tattoo) and has never had any issues.” Zuko blinked, shook his head, and turned to grab something. 

“I’m not going to respond to that,” Zuko commented. Tone of voice shifting, he continued, “Can you take off your sock and shoe and lay down for me?” Sokka was beginning to notice how different Zuko sounded when having an actual conversation and when he was working. Doing as he was told, Sokka kicked himself mentally. He shouldn’t be trying to remember things about a stranger he was never going to meet again. 

There was a few minutes of silence as Zuko started tattooing Sokka’s heel. Sokka was trying his best not to flinch and mess him up. It was easier said than done. He had always been really ticklish on his feet, so he guessed it made sense that he would also be more sensitive to a needle being repeatedly stabbed into his ankle. But Zuko didn’t seem bothered by the small jerks of his foot and Sokka started to calm down a little. 

And then his phone buzzed. Sokka pulled it out of his back pocket without looking at the name, hitting the power button and sending it to voicemail. Zuko didn’t look up at him, continuing on the bull’s eye. Just as Sokka started to settle into the comfortable quiet again, his phone went off again. This time it was just a text message. Kaya. Sokka ignored it. Then another call. Two more texts. Finally, after the fourth phone call, Zuko stopped. 

“Please, just see what they want. I’ll stop for a few minutes. The buzzing is  _ really _ getting on my nerves,” Zuko explained, setting the needle down. 

“Sorry,” Sokka mumbled, a fifth phone call from Kaya coming through. He answered. 

“Sokka!” He instinctively pulled back from the phone, eardrum ringing. “Where the hell have you been?” 

“That is none of your business, Kaya. Why do you—” 

“None of my business! You’re the one who walked out on us! Why didn’t you pick up my other calls?” 

“I—” 

“And I’ve texted you! Why were you ignoring me? If we breakup because—” 

“If? Kaya, what part of me walking in on you and Norreq fucking in my bed makes you think we’re going to stay together?” 

There was a pause. “We can work through that.”

Without meaning to, Sokka rolled his eyes. “No. No, we can’t. I’m coming back tomorrow to get my stuff but we’re done, Kaya.” 

“I’m keeping Kustaa then,” she said  _ far _ too quickly for someone who complained about the dog on a regular basis. 

“No! I had him way before I met you! You can’t have my  _ dog! _ What the fuck is wrong with you?” And with that, she hung up. Sokka glared at his phone for a moment before just dropping it on the hardwood floor. If it broke, it broke. It would give him an excuse to change his number if he had to get a new one. Zuko looked uncomfortable when Sokka looked back up at him. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that… You can see why I wasn’t answering, huh?” 

“No… it’s fine.” Zuko wasn’t making eye contact with him, instead turning around to prepare his needle again. “You know, normally I have a personal thing against tattooing people who are going through some shit. But I guess you got lucky today because I’ve already started.” 

“Yay me,” Sokka said drily, more to himself than Zuko. It was quiet except for the buzz of the needle and the faint music in the background. 

After a moment, Zuko bit his bottom lip and looked up at Sokka. “Hey, I’m sorry you got cheated on. I know what it feels like and I’m sorry you’re going through that.” 

“Oh,” Sokka said, not expecting him to say something like that. “Uh, thanks, man.” Zuko just nodded, his eyes dropping back down to Sokka’s leg. 

The quiet settled back in and Sokka glanced at himself in the mirror on the opposite side of the room. Strands of hair had fallen out of his bun and his eyes were shiny. He looked tired. Quickly, he brought his gaze back to his phone on the ground. He didn’t want to see the disheveled mess that Zuko probably saw him as. Brain wanting desperately to fill the quiet, Sokka bit the bullet and continued. “It was with my best friend, you know?” Zuko glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. “She cheated on me with my best friend.” He skipped a beat, debating on whether or not he should disclose any more personal information. He was never going to see Zuko again, so it really didn’t matter. He continued. “We all lived together so I think the worst part is I don’t even know how long it was going on for without me knowing.”

Zuko stopped, sat up a little, and looked directly at him. “That’s rough, buddy.”

* * *

There was tapping on Sokka’s window. His eyes were bleary when he opened them, fluorescent lamp light flooding into his car through the windshield.  _ Fuck, it’s the cops, _ Sokka thought before he could even see. He had gotten the feeling he wouldn’t be able to sleep in this parking lot all night. The tapping continued. Sokk sat up, ready to explain himself and met a pair of unexpected eyes. Despite himself, he jumped a little in surprise, scrambling to open his door. 

“Zuko?!” Sokka questioned at the same time that Zuko asked, “What are you doing?” Sokka blinked. 

“Why are you sleeping in the backseat of your car?” Zuko continued, arms folded. 

“Um, because I couldn’t afford a hotel room,” Sokka sort of snapped back, tired. “What are you doing in a Target parking lot at…” He looked down at his phone. “Almost one in the morning?” Zuko simply held up a reusable grocery bag. 

“I needed cat food, but what do you mean you couldn’t afford a hotel room? You just paid me almost a hundred dollars to tattoo you. Why didn’t you use that on some shitty motel?” 

Sokka threw up his hands a little. “I don’t want bed bugs! Or lice! Places like that can be gross!” Zuko covered his face with his hands and groaned. 

“It would at least be better than sleeping in your fucking car!” 

“Why do you care?” Sokka shot back. 

“Because the shit you’re going through sucks!” Zuko snapped before looking up at the streetlamp and taking in a deep breath. He was even pretty in this lighting and Sokka wasn’t sure what to say to him. He was well aware that this was  _ pathetic, _ but he was doing his best with the cards he had been dealt. 

“Look,” Zuko began, looking back down at Sokka. “I’ve already called my roommates and they said you can sleep on our couch for a few days until you have somewhere else to go.” After a few moments of Sokka just gawking at him, Zuko continued, “I’m only offering because you seem like you’re a decent person who’s just going through some shit.” 

Sokka blinked. “Uh, thank you, but, um, I just met you  _ tonight. _ You seem cool and thank you for the offer, but—” 

“Sokka,” Zuko interrupted. “Do you really want to keep sleeping in a car for however long?” 

“Want to? No. Why would I want to? But I might prefer it to staying in a stranger’s apartment with their roommates—” 

“Why are you being so stubborn? It’s cold out here, you’re sleeping in a car, and you don’t have a blanket. You’ll probably only see my roommates once or twice; they work during the day and I assume you work during the day. I’ll even let you bring your dog with you when you go to get your stuff.” Sokka rubbed his eyes. 

“Fine, but I’ll figure out how to pay you back.” He pointed a finger at Zuko. “Don’t think you can talk me out of that.” Zuko rolled his eyes. 

* * *

Sokka would admit that the car ride over was almost painfully awkward, but it was short, at least. He assumed he could just curl up on their couch and finally get some  _ fucking _ sleep. He assumed Zuko’s roommates would already be asleep and he wouldn’t have to interact with any more people. Turns out, March 11th was “Sokka is Wrong About Everything Day.” 

“I take it this is our new roommate,” a girl with straight black hair said as Sokka walked through the door, looking him over. After a moment, she turned her attention back towards the T.V. “He doesn’t look like he’d be your type, Zuko.” Sokka froze and looked over at her. She ignored him.

“Shut up,” Zuko grumbled from their kitchenette, setting the bag of cat food down on the counter. Before Sokka could ask what the  _ hell _ that meant, another girl spoke up. 

“He’s cute, at least.” She paused, lifted her head out of the lap of the other woman, and made direct eye contact with Sokka. “You’re cute, at least.” Before that day, Aang had been the only person Sokka had met with gray eyes. Weirdly, she looked a little like Aang too, like a cousin or something. 

“Uh,” Sokka said intelligently. The gray-eyed gal sat up on the couch and waved slightly. 

“I’m Ty Lee, by the way!” 

“I’m Mai,” the one with black hair said. “You’re Sokka, right?” 

“Uh, yeah, that’s me. Sokka.” He was being  _ so  _ _ weird _ about this. Mai just nodded and turned off the television, motioning towards a chair under the window. 

“Okay then, sit down, Sokka; we have a few questions for you.” Sokka shot a nervous glance over towards Zuko, who was too busy glaring at Mai to help him. 

Sitting, Sokka asked, “What’s up? Should I be concerned?” 

“No,” Ty Lee shrugged. “We just want to know basic information about you since you’ll be staying with us for a few days.” 

Sokka could feel himself physically relax. “Oh, cool. That’s chill.” 

“Where are you from?” Ty Lee started, not even missing a beat. Sokka cringed internally. 

“Are you asking about my ethnic background or where I was raised?” 

“Both,” Mai answered. 

“Can’t this wait ‘til morning?” Zuko asked from the kitchen, setting a bowl down on the ground. Mai turned almost her whole body towards him. 

“You’re the one who decided to let a stranger sleep on our couch, so I don’t think you should be talking right now, Zuko.” 

“I’m just saying that it’s one in the morning and maybe we should all go to bed.” 

“It’s alright, I don’t mind,” Sokka insisted, though neither of them looked over at him. Ty Lee did give him a small smile, however. 

Some silent conversation passed between Zuko and Mai before Zuko rolled his eyes, and mumbled, “Fine,” leaving the room. And Sokka was alone with strangers. Both of the women turned towards him expectantly and it took his brain a second to catch back up. 

“Oh, right,” he said. “Uh… so I was born near Traverse City and lived there until my mom died when I was ten. After that, my family moved up near Marquette to live with my Gran.”

“I’ve heard it’s so cold up there!” Ty Lee commented. 

Sokka shrugged. “I mean,  [ I guess. ](https://www.tiktok.com/@notdayle/video/6867608902096129286?lang=en&sender_device=pc&sender_web_id=6851733207545841158&is_from_webapp=1) My gran says it’s a lot warmer here than where she grew up.” He paused, seeing the confusion flash over their face. “We’re Inupiat.” More silence. 

“So why are you here? Why didn’t you move back to Traverse City?” Mai asked.

“I’m going to U of M for grad school,” Sokka answered, trying not to brag. He was  _ well _ aware of how competitive his program was and didn’t want these people thinking he was some pretentious jackass. Despite—or maybe because of—Sokka’s vagueness, Mai perked up a little at the statement. 

“I am too; what program are you in?” 

“I’m in the Clinical Psych PhD program,” Sokka admitted, heart pounding at how wide her eyes got. She probably thought he was such an ass for so nonchalantly—

“I’m in their  [ Feminist Psychology ](https://lsa.umich.edu/psych/program-areas/gender-and-feminist-psychology.html) program!” she was leaning forward with a small smile on her face.

“Oh!” Sokka said, not expecting that answer but entirely relieved. “Shit.” 

“What’s happening?” Zuko asked, reentering the conversation. Sokka glanced at him and felt his heart nearly stop, quickly moving his gaze back over to Mai. Zuko had changed into a tight t-shirt and baggy pajama pants and Sokka was regretting his decision. Living with someone so effortlessly attractive for even just a few days  _ might _ just be the thing to kill him.

“Did you know he’s also going to grad school at U of M? In Psychology?” Mai asked Zuko, excitement leaking through her voice. 

“No,” Zuko answered, looking over at Sokka. Sokka just gave him a shrug as Zuko just sort of… looked him over. Finally, he just hummed and turned back towards the other two. “Ty Lee, move over. I had a long day and I’m stealing your girlfriend.” Without protest, Ty Lee scooched over and Zuko curled up on the couch with his head in Mai’s lap. And Sokka desperately missed Suki, Toph, Aang, and Katara. 

“We dated in high school,” Mai said casually, probably in response to Sokka staring. “It didn’t work out because I’m a lesbian.” 

“And Zuko wasn’t held enough as a child,” Ty Lee added, biting her bottom lip a bit to hide a smile. Zuko partially glared at her through the corner of his eyes, not moving to do anything more about the joke. 

“Am I going to be made fun of all night?” Zuko asked, tilting his head slightly up towards Mai. 

“You’re the one who decided to let Sokka stay with us without asking first,” she shot back, her fingers running lazily through his hair. 

“Wait, you told me you  _ asked _ if I could stay here and they said yes,” Sokka said quickly, eyes widening a bit. Zuko just closed his eyes and slowly inhaled.

Mai’s hand stopped in his hair and she shoved his head slightly. She didn’t say anything as he half glared at her. There was a quiet moment where the two simply stared at each other, seemingly saying  _ something _ in silence to each other. Finally, Ty Lee spoke up. 

“So Sokka,” she started, tearing her eyes away from the other two. “Zuko didn’t really explain how you know each other… or why you needed to stay with us really.” Zuko closed his eyes again, letting out an almost exhausted sigh. Sokka could feel his face getting warm. 

“Oh, yeah, well… we don’t  _ really _ know each other. He did a tattoo for me earlier tonight and then sort of found me sleeping in my car in a Target parking lot and insisted I come stay with you guys?” Mai’s face became eerily neutral and she slowly looked back down at Zuko. 

“You are  _ so _ stupid and  _ so _ gay, you know that?” she said, sound almost… disappointed about something Sokka didn’t understand. Despite himself, Sokka’s heart fluttered.

“I know,” Zuko grumbled, running a hand over his face. 

Ty Lee never looked over at them during the interaction, instead forging ahead in her quest of information. “Why were you sleeping in your car?” 

“I couldn’t afford a nice hotel and I didn’t want to get a venereal disease from some shitty motel, so I spent most of my money on a tattoo,” Sokka explained with a shrug. Ty Lee’s eyebrows knitted together, still ignoring Mai scoldingly whispering to Zuko. 

“Are you homeless?” 

“Oh my  [ god, ](https://64.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5bjdvSOOG1qzzkr9o1_500.gif) Ty Lee,” Mai said, looking over at her. 

“I didn’t want to beat around the bush!” 

“It’s fine,” Sokka interrupted. “I think I’m technically homeless?” Three pairs of eyes stared at him and he could feel his face starting to warm. “My name is still on a lease for an apartment with my… ex-best friend and ex-girlfriend, but I’m not living there anymore.” Just as he finished, he could see Ty Lee gearing up to ask for more information and he sighed. “I walked in on them fucking each other.” Damn, it hurt to admit that, a pang aching through his gut. 

Ty Lee glanced at Zuko, before looking Sokka in the eyes. “I’m sorry. That’s awful.” 

Sokka shrugged. “There’s not much I can do about it.” His eyes stung only a little. 

“Still sucks,” Mai said. And for some reason that acknowledgement broke him, just a little. Sokka tried  _ just _ to nod, but he could feel himself tearing up.  _ Don’t cry in front of strangers, dude. _ He told himself. Wordlessly, Ty Lee got up and walked over to him, arms opening. 

He put up a hand and shook his head. “No, I’m okay. I’m sorry for—” 

“Sokka,” she said sternly, hands resting on her hips. “Unless you have a thing against people touching you, you don’t get to refuse my hug right now. You’re hurting so you’re getting a hug.” Sokka just blinked. This was a wild group of people that he had met. Sure, his friends were affectionate with each other like this. But with complete strangers? 

“Oh… ‘kay,” he said, trying to process. Taking that as an answer, Ty Lee bent down and hugged him. Sokka wasn’t given enough time to feel awkward about it—or to feel anything really—before his phone started buzzing. She pulled back as he fished it out of his pocket. Kaya. 

“Is that her?” Ty Lee asked, looking at the screen. Sokka nodded, sniffling and opening his mouth to say something. “Give me the phone.” She held out her hand. 

“What?” 

“You won’t regret it,” Zuko said vaguely from the couch. Ty Lee just motioned for him to hand it over, a hand on her hip. He felt like he was getting in trouble in high school again. He panicked a little. 

“No, I can just send it to voice—” 

“Give me the goddamn phone, Sokka!” Startled at how authoritative her voice got and the sudden cursing, he gave it to her. Even more startlingly, she turned and harshly coughed into her elbow and then answered. 

“Hell—” 

“Sokka, where are you?” Kaya’s voice rang through the phone, despite it not being on speaker. Ty Lee made concerned eye contact with Sokka. 

“I don’t know who Sokka is,” Ty Lee said, sounding eighty years older than she really was. “Why are you calling me so late at night? You sound confused, dear.” 

“What?” Kaya shrieked. Ty Lee pulled the phone away from her ear, cringing. Hesitantly, she transferred it to speaker. “—my boyfriend’s phone? Where is he? I’ve been tracking him through Find My iPhone, I  _ know _ he’s there!” Ty Lee just looked wide-eyed at Sokka

“Honey, have you been hitting the bottle tonight? It’s only me and my Druky-poo here tonight and you have the wrong number.” 

There was a pause. “No… this is definitely my boyfriend’s number. Who are  _ you? _ ”

“Gretchen,” Ty Lee answered, looking panicked. She gave a half-hearted shrug to Mai, who was seemingly stifling laughter behind her hand. 

Kaya paused again before asking another question. “Gretchen  _ what? _ ” 

“ [ Whitmer. ](https://photos.metrotimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/big-gretch-whitmer-twitter00019-1.jpg) Goodnight!” And Ty Lee hung up before Kaya could respond, shutting the phone down entirely. Mai laughed from the couch, muffled behind her hand. Ty Lee looked back over at Sokka, sounding like herself again. “I’m sorry! I panicked!” 

“It’s fine. I know she can be intense,” he answered and then paused. Why did he almost feel embarrassed? He’d  _ never _ felt embarrassed about Kaya before. “Also, I feel like I should explain that I only dated her for five months.” Mai’s eyebrows furrowed. 

“Are you straight?” she asked.

“No, I’m bi,” he answered. She nodded. 

“I’m okay with you staying here then,” she replied. Sokka blinked a little. 

“Would I not be allowed to if I were straight?” 

“No, I just wanted to know,” Mai shrugged. 

“You also don’t get a choice, anymore. Whenever you get your things, I’m coming with you!” Ty Lee told him, staring him straight in the eyes. “I need to know what a person like that looks like. Through the phone, her aura was  _ so _ gray!” 

“Uh,” Sokka said, not sure why she was suddenly so invested in him.

Zuko sat up and looked at Sokka. “I’ll come too.” Sokka felt like he might panic.

Mai just shrugged. “I have nothing better to do.” 

* * *

“I thought you said you weren’t coming back,” Kaya spat as Sokka walked through the door. She got up from her chair, setting her phone down on the arm rest. 

“I told you, I’m just here for my shit,” Sokka grumbled. U of M had cancelled all in-person classes the day before, so he hadn’t had to go into the lab for the first time in ages. That meant he had slept in and was feeling a lot more tired and almost grouchy than usually. Trying to ignore the person marching up to him, he looked around for Kustaa. He wasn’t in any of his normal sleeping spots, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t on Sokka's bed. 

“You can’t just leave! You’re still on the lease,” she argued, folding her arms. Sokka could tell that she had thought about what she wanted to say to get him to stay. “Plus, you’re the one who covers the majority of rent! What are Norreq and I supposed to do?” 

“I don’t know. Figure it out?” Sokka said, trying to take a step towards his room. She moved in front of him. “Where’s Kustaa?” 

“It doesn’t matter. He’s our dog now and you don’t get to—who the hell are you?” Sokka glanced over his shoulder to see Zuko stepping through the door he had left open. 

Zuko shrugged. “A friend.” It was at that moment that Mai and Ty Lee also walked in. Kaya looked like she was about to have a conniption. 

“Where the hell  _ were _ you, Sokka?” Sokka just rolled his eyes and tried to walk past her. Placing a hand on his chest, she pushed him back. “Don’t ignore me! You just ran off last night and didn’t give us a chance to try and fix this! Now you just waltz in here with three strangers and won’t look me in the eye?” He looked over at her and she faltered for the briefest second. “I tried to fix this, Sokka! I called you and texted you last night and you just ignored me!” 

Sokka scoffed. “Three texts and four missed calls doesn’t fix the fact that you were fucking Norreq, Kaya.” 

“You wouldn’t let me try to fix it! If you had just answered, then we could have—” 

“Let it go, Kaya,” a voice came from the hallway. Sokka knew who it was already, but looked anyway. Norreq was staring at him, arms crossed and back against the wall. And—strangely—when Sokka looked him in the eyes, he felt  _ nothing. _ Like someone had taken every emotion he was capable of and just voided them. And then Norreq simply said, “Hey, Sokka.” 

Before he could stop himself, Sokka replied, “Hey, Norreq,” and automatically regret settled into his stomach; angry tears prickling at his eyes. Kaya and him had only dated for five months. He and Norreq had been best friends for five  _ years. _ The betrayal was so much worse with him than it had been with her. And it  _ hurt. _

There was a tense silence: Zuko, Mai, and Ty Lee completely unsure of what to do, Kaya glaring at Norreq, and Sokka and Norreq just staring at each other. Sokka would admit that he had a knack for getting himself into bizarre situations, but this was so surreal. This was the first apartment he had ever gotten by himself. He had gotten his first dog here. It felt so strange to be leaving it so suddenly. To be leaving it because years worth of friendship had just gone down the drain. 

Finally, Norreq took a deep breath, stood up straighter, and said, “Look, I’m sorry, man, I really am. I don’t—” 

“Fuck off,” Sokka interrupted without thinking. He didn’t want either of them to keep trying to talk to him about anything. There was nothing that either of them could say that would fix this. But he knew they were willing to try and that was the worst part. 

Norreq froze and then nonchalantly shrugged. “Guess I deserve that.” Sokka rolled his eyes, motioning for his three companions to follow him. Norreq stepped out of their way as they walked to his bedroom. 

It was quiet. Sokka silently grabbed his suitcases from the top shelf in his closet. The trio followed through on stuffing his things into bags and taking them out to his car for him. He felt a bit strange on how much he trusted them, but he was thankful for the help. The sooner he was out of there, the better. As expected, they soon ran out of room in his limited suitcases and they started filling trash bags. It wasn’t how he normally moved, but it was the best he could do in a short period of time. Also, normally, he knew where he would actually be living before he moved all his stuff, but life was weird. 

Pulling the sheet and blanket off the bed, Sokka turned to the three and muttered, “This should be the last of it. I really appreciate that you guys came to help me with this. You can leave without me… I have to get my dog still.”

Mai just nodded, responding, “I get it, but are you sure?” There was a moment where she stared at him as if she could see so much more of him than just his soul through his eyes. “You know as well as I do that they’ll change once we leave.” 

“I know,” he responded. “But it’ll be fine. I don’t want to keep you guys here much longer.”

“Sokka, you don’t have to do this alone,” Ty Lee reminded. 

He shook his head. “I know and it’s fine.” He hesitated, feeling nervous with three sets of eyes trained on him. “It’s just going to take a bit of arguing with them to get my dog back and I don’t want you guys to stick around for that.” 

Mai just looked him over and sighed. “I’ve dealt with Zuko long enough to know you’re probably not going to back down on this.” Zuko shot her a quick glare and she glared back before continuing. “So we’ll take that,” she said, pointing at the trash bag in his hand. “And we’ll meet you back at the apartment.” 

Something close to relief washed over Sokka as he handed the bag to her. Ty Lee just bit her lip and nervously looked between Sokka and Mai. After a moment of rocking on her heels, she finally asked, “You’ll call us, right? If you need help? You have our numbers?” It was comforting to know that he wasn’t the only one to quickly become attached to people. 

“No, I didn’t exactly get your phone numbers last night,” Sokka answered, glancing at Zuko. He wasn’t looking at him and Sokka was  _ almost _ disappointed. However, Ty Lee was practically digging his phone out of his hoodie pocket and having Zuko’s attention was no longer a priority. “Hey—”

“I just want your phone and you’re so slow!” she argued before he could even make his point. Mai tucked her tongue into her cheek, smiling with a small chuckle. Even Zuko looked like he was trying not to laugh at them and Sokka was regretting his decision to take him up on his offer to stay a few days with them. 

“Finally,” Ty Lee mumbled as she pulled Sokka’s phone out, grabbing his hand to press his thumb on the home button to unlock it.  _ Should I feel violated? _ Sokka asked himself as she typed in her information and texted herself and then two different numbers. “There,” she said, handing it back. “Now you have all three of our numbers.” 

“Wait, two of them don’t have names, how am I supposed to know which—” 

“You’ll figure it out,” Mai interrupted, walking past him and towards the door. Ty Lee was quick to follow her, but Zuko just… stood. Mai looked over her shoulder at him. “Are you coming?” 

He shook his head. Sokka panicked. “No, I want to see how this plays out.” 

Mai chuckled and mumbled something that sounded like, “Suite yourself” and they left. 

And Sokka was standing in his partially empty bedroom alone with Zuko. 

So he folded his arms and looked him straight in the eyes and asked, “What’s up?” 

Smooth. 

Zuko sighed, breaking eye contact and looking at the empty bed. “This is going to sound really weird,” he started and Sokka realized he should have saved his earlier panic for this moment. “But…” Zuko sighed and ran a hand over his face. “I used to smuggle animals out of people’s houses when I was a teenager.” 

“That is one-hundred percent not what I expected you to say,” Sokka both said and thought before his brain could put in a new filter. Zuko rolled his eyes. 

“Mai sort of knows that I did it, but Ty Lee doesn’t, so that’s why I didn’t mention it sooner,” he explained, arms crossed and avoiding eye contact. 

“Fair enough,” Sokka said, arms dropping to his sides and eyebrows crinkling. “But can I ask why?” 

“Why I don’t want them to know?” 

“No, why were you stealing people’s animals?” 

Zuko cringed. “It’s a long story.” 

“Can you give me the condensed version?” 

Zuko glared at him for a brief moment before sighing. “My uncle used to own a tea shop and I worked there with a girl named Jin. She would complain all the time about different people she knew who were neglecting pets or not properly caring for exotic ones and… fuck.” He scrubbed his hands over his face, cheeks reddening. “I would give coupons for free tea delivery to these people and then go in and take their pet… or pets sometimes, and then just leave. They often never noticed and I never got caught. According to Jin, a lot of them just thought that the animal got out and ran away. Jin would take them in or give them to someone else who could, so it worked out fine.” Zuko paused and blinked. “I don’t know why I just told you that.” 

“Well, I did ask,” Sokka answered. After a moment, he shrugged, “Okay, well… he’s a one-hundred-and-twenty pound dog, are you sure you can do it?” 

“I’ve stolen a pig before, it’ll be fine.” Sokka did  _ not _ ask for another explanation. 

* * *

“Kaya, this is ridiculous. Please, just give me  _ my _ dog back,” Sokka repeated for what felt like the twentieth time that afternoon. 

“No, not until you at least agree to trying to work things out!” she insisted. Norreq looked tired, running a hand over his face. 

“Kaya,” he mumbled from the couch. 

“No! I’m not letting it go and I’m not giving you Kustaa. Sokka, you need to just talk to me about this!” 

“There’s nothing to talk about, Kaya.  _ You _ decided to cheat on me and I decided to leave. Just give me my dog.” 

“He has a point, Kaya,” Norreq said, looking only at her and not at Sokka. Anger was already boiling up in him enough. It would be worse if Norreq tried to fix their friendship too. 

For once, Kaya deflated a bit. “I really think we can work this out Sokka. I mean, Beyonce and Jay-Z did it. Why can’t we?” 

Sokka  [ scoffed. ](https://youtu.be/oCVDhGO_i1k?t=52) “Don’t bring celebrities into this. They live such drastically different lives from us that they can’t be used as an example.” He paused. “And what is there to work out? I don’t want a relationship or even a friendship with either of you! There’s nothing to work out. Just delete my number from your phones and move on.” 

And Kaya had the audacity to look hurt. “Sok, why are you—”

“Don’t call me that,” he bit back. And there was silence as she just stared at him flabbergasted. There was so much he wanted to say, but catharsis wouldn’t bring him closure. It wouldn’t make him  _ less _ angry. He would just be mean. 

“Hey, Sokka,” Zuko said, walking out of the hallway with his arms strangely crossed over his stomach. Part of Sokka wanted to laugh. “You got everything?” 

“Yeah,” he answered, glancing down at the leash and bowls in his hands that Kaya had tried to wrestle away from him just a few minutes before. “You ready to go?” 

“Yes,” Zuko answered in a strange tone, through slightly gritted teeth. 

“What do you mean you’re  _ leaving? _ You don’t have Kustaa! And you can’t just take that! What am I supposed to do with Kustaa if you take it?” 

Sokka shrugged. “Get fucked.” 

“Sokka!” Kaya yelled at him, hands on her hips. “Why are you being such an assh—hey! What the fuck?!” She was looking at Zuko now who was opening the door. Kustaa had pushed his snout out the sleeve of Zuko’s shirt so that his nose and mouth were exposed. 

Zuko simply glanced down at it and shrugged. “It’s a medical condition,” he deadpanned before grabbing Sokka’s arm and literally pulling him out the door. Not getting the chance to say anything, Sokka simply flipped them both off and ran down the stairs with Zuko. 

“Why are we running?” Sokka asked, a little breathless. 

“I don’t want to be here when  [ the cops ](https://i.redd.it/8ldsxx8g7s211.jpg) show up,” Zuko answered. “They tend to see the scar and think I’ve been to prison already.” 

Sokka accepted the answer as they pushed the doors open to the outside and realized how it had been phrased. “Wait! What do you mean ‘tend to?’” 

“Long story,” Zuko replied, opening up the door to the backseat of Sokka’s car and just letting himself in. Sokka was almost a little sad that he would be moving again in the next week and he wouldn’t get to unlock all the mysteries of Zuko. 

Starting the engine, Sokka turned around in his seat to look at Zuko. “How the hell did you fit my dog under your shirt?” 

“I like  [ oversized ](https://www.tiktok.com/@emmalangevin/video/6824936895978474757?lang=en&sender_device=pc&sender_web_id=6851733207545841158&is_from_webapp=1) shirts,” Zuko mumbled with a small shrug, more focused on getting the large canine out of his clothing. After a minute, Kustaa wriggled free and immediately moved off of Zuko’s lap into the passenger seat. It took another second for him to realize Sokka was there and to nuzzle his face into his.

“Hi, buddy,” Sokka said to him, scratching behind his ear. “I missed you too.” Kustaa simply put his head under Sokka’s hand, asking for pets. Sokka smiled and happily obliged. Zuko sat awkwardly in the backseat. 

“Hey, I hate to ruin this moment, but I  _ do _ think we should leave  _ before _ the cops come.” 

* * *

“Hey, my dad is FaceTiming me, do you guys want me to step outside?” Sokka asked, looking over at his temporary roommates from the floor. Kustaa had been curled next to him for the last hour and he couldn’t find the will to get up. 

“You’re fine,” Zuko said from where he was sprawled on the couch, nose in the same poetry book. 

“No! It’s okay! Mai and I will keep it down!” Ty Lee answered from the kitchen. 

“Cool,” Sokka mumbled, plugging his headphones in and answering the call. 

“Sokka!” Hakoda exclaimed from the other end. He still held his phone a little too close to his face, despite all the times that he and Katara had tried to correct him. “How are ya, son? I heard U of M shut down.” 

“Hi, Dad,” Sokka said with a small smile. “And yeah, they did.” There was a pause in the conversation. It had been a few months since they had seen each other. His dad was starting to go gray. He supposed it was about time considering Sokka was almost twenty-five now. 

“Well, I just wanted to call to see how you were doing with all that. Make sure you are okay. Katara and Aang came to stay with us until schools open back up… Did you know that Aang is from California?” 

“Yeah, Dad. I was aware that Aang was from California,” Sokka answered, trying not to laugh. “I’m pretty sure they’ve basically closed the whole state over there.” 

“That’s what they said,” Hakoda answered, sounding almost shocked. “I’ve never seen something like this before and you know that Bato and I lived through  [ the 80s. ](https://www.history.com/news/aids-epidemic-ronald-reagan) ” He laughed at himself and Sokka just smiled. “It’s nice to have them both here. It’s so quiet with both of you gone. Gran-Gran misses you.” 

“Gran-Gran has my phone number, she can call me at any time and she knows that,” Sokka replied, running a hand through Kustaa’s fur. 

“You also have  _ her _ phone number and should make an old woman feel loved,” his dad shot back. Sokka laughed. “I take it you’re not coming home for this, huh?” 

“No, I…” Sokka paused. He hadn’t even thought of going home to live with his dad and Gran again. For some reason, it just hadn’t been an option in his mind. Maybe that was just because he still had commitments in Ann Arbor and this would all blow over in a few months. How was he supposed to explain that he was basically homeless, but wouldn’t be coming home? 

“It’s okay, I get it,” Hakoda interrupted. “I know you and Norreq have an apartment together and you just started living with that new girlfriend of yours. Say, where is she, anyway? You never introduced us.” 

Sokka cringed. “We broke up, Dad.” 

Hakoda’s face fell a bit. “Oh… I’m sorry, Sokka. I didn’t realize. I was just talking to Katara about it and she hadn’t mentioned it. I didn’t mean to—” 

“It’s okay. I actually haven’t told Katara just yet,” Sokka answered honestly. He felt his heart rate pick up at the prospect of his sister calling him in a furious frenzy. The stove turned off in the kitchen and there was the faint chink of metal-on-metal. There was rustling behind him. But Sokka just stared at his phone, trying to gage his father’s reaction. 

“Really?” Hakoda asked, stunned, glancing at something off screen. “I thought you would have told your sister first. What happened?” 

Sokka sighed. “That’s sort of a long story. I, uh…” Before Sokka could gather his thoughts fully, more questions seemed to come to Hakoda. Sokka bit his lip. 

“Are you at your apartment right now?” Sokka shook his head. Hakoda just nodded. “Should have figured as much. I’m not sure who’s on the couch behind you.” At that Sokka turned to look at Zuko, who flushed once he realized he’d been caught staring. 

Turning back to his phone, Sokka said, “Oh, that’s just Zuko.” 

“Are you going to introduce me?” 

Sokka turned back to Zuko. “Do you want to meet my dad?” 

“Absolutely not,” Zuko answered, getting up and walking towards his room. Before Sokka got a chance to relay the message to his dad, Ty Lee chimed in. 

“Yes! I would love to meet your dad!” 

“Ty Lee, uh—” was all he got out before she sat right next to him and unplugged his headphones. Hakoda blinked in surprise. 

“Hi, Sokka’s dad! I’m Ty Lee!” 

“Hi, Ty Lee. You can call me Hakoda,” he answered, chuckling a little. “Sokka, please tell me she’s not your new girlfriend.”

He nearly choked. “Holy shit!  _ No! _ Kaya and I broke up  _ yesterday _ and Ty Lee’s gay!” He paused and looked over at her. “Sorry, I just outed you. But if it helps, my dad is also bi.” 

Ty Lee laughed. “It’s fine. I suppose it’s payback for me putting my hand in your pocket today.” 

“Sokka!” his dad said, feigning scandal. 

“Oh my god,” Sokka grumbled into his hands as Ty Lee took the phone from him. 

“Now, Hakoda,” she began. Sokka wanted to curl in on himself and implode. “Why is it that Sokka is so bad at asking for help?” 

“Ty Lee, give me my phone back,” Sokka said. 

She shushed him. “I just need answers. I have known him for twenty-four hours and he keeps insisting that he’s fine and keeps trying to do things by himself even though he  _ just _ got cheated on! I just need to know why.” 

And there was quiet as Sokka just stared at his dad’s face on the screen. Hakoda just sighed and Sokka took his phone back. Ty Lee looked immediately guilty. 

“I’m sorry, I was just playing around,” she almost whispered to him. 

Sokka shook his head. “I just hadn’t told him yet,” he mumbled back.

“And when were you going to tell me, Sokka?” Hakoda asked.

“I was getting to it! It’s not exactly something I  _ want _ to talk about,” he shot back. 

“What’s happening?” a different voice asked from the other end of the call. Bato. Sokka felt like he might just cry. It was like he was a little kid getting in trouble again. 

“Kaya cheated on Sokka,” he heard his dad hushedly explain.

“What?” Bato asked. Ty Lee put her hand on Sokka’s shoulder. 

“I am sorry,” she said. 

He shrugged. “This conversation had to happen eventually.” She just rubbed his back slightly, looking down at the hardwood. 

“Sokka,” Bato said to him finally, sitting next to his dad on the couch and finally holding the phone away from them at an appropriate distance. “I’m sorry to hear about that. Why aren’t you staying with Norreq?” 

“Because Norreq was the one Kaya cheated on me with,” Sokka answered, closing his eyes. Before either his dad or Bato could respond, another voice joined the call. 

“What?” Sokka knew Katara’s scream from anywhere. 

“Good luck,” Hakoda said just before the phone was ripped away from Bato and Katara appeared. Sokka gave her a forced smile. 

“Kaya did  _ what? _ ” Katara asked face already turning red. 

“Hi, Katara,” Sokka said. 

“Do I need to fucking drive down there, Sokka? Where  _ is _ she?  _ Where _ are you?” 

“Katara, it’s late,” Hakoda said somewhere in the background. 

Sokka sighed. “No, you don’t need to drive down here. It’s fine. I’m fine. I’ve got all my stuff. Kaya’s back at the apartment with Norreq. I have Kustaa with me and I’m staying with some…” He knew his word choice was important in mollifying her. “Friends.” 

“I’m Ty Lee,” she offered gently with a small wave. Katara’s eyes seemed to bounce between her and Sokka, eyebrows gradually furrowing. 

“I’ll still drive down there and beat the shit out of them both,” Katara offered finally. 

Sokka almost laughed. “I already had to steal Kustaa back from them today. We can’t  _ both _ get arrested.” 

“She tried to take Kustaa?” Katara nearly shrieked. “Aang! Get your shoes on!” 

“Oh my god, Katara, it’s fine! Don’t drive down here! I don’t want you possibly getting exposed,” he insisted. She stopped. 

“What’s going on?” Aang asked in the background as Zuko re-entered the room asking, “Why is there so much yelling?” 

“My sister found out,” Sokka said, wearily. Zuko hummed as he just sat back down on the couch, Katara talking to Aang off screen. 

“Okay,” Hakoda said, the phone returning to him. “It sounds like you’ve had a really rough day and we should leave you alone.” 

“Yeah, thanks, Dad,” Sokka said, trying to not feel relieved that the conversation was almost done. 

“I’ll call you again tomorrow, okay? Same time?” 

“Yeah, that works,” Sokka answered, finger hovering over the X in the corner. 

“Okay… well, just remember that we will drive down if you need us. I love you, Sokka.” 

“Love you too, Dad,” Sokka said, hanging up. Mai was still in the kitchenette, seemingly pretending to not have heard the whole conversation. Kustaa had woken up from all of Katara’s screaming, still laying next to Sokka like the sloth he was. Ty Lee’s hand was still on his shoulder, her eyes now trained on him. And as Sokka looked over to meet them, he felt the first tear slip out. 

“Sokka,” Ty Lee said gently, moving to give him a hug. He let her hug him. 

“I’m fine,” he tried to get out, but his voice cracked and he could feel himself crying more. This really wasn’t going to be easy, huh? 

Getting up off the floor, Kustaa pushed his nose in between Ty Lee and Sokka, weaseling his way into Sokka’s lap. He laughed a little at the dog, who in turn licked his face. Ty Lee didn’t look offended when Sokka hugged his dog, crying into his fur. 


	2. turned out I had a heart of glass

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey y'all, remember how I kept saying I was going to have this chapter up by the end of 2020 and now it's almost the end of February? yeah, I had a depressive episode and then my workload for school doubled but i got there eventually  
> the title of this chapter is based on ["Heart of Glass" by Blondie](https://youtu.be/NbdRLyixJpc) (but I like the Miley Cyrus cover better so I linked that)  
> this chapter is a mess, so forewarning

The television clicked off, jerking Sokka back to reality. Kustaa lifted his head off of his lap, looking up at him, huffing, and then laying it back down. He wasn’t sure exactly how long the two of them had been there for—probably only two or three hours, nothing bad. He’d sat in front of a T.V. for much longer throughout high school. Before he could dwell much more on that, something soft hit the side of Sokka’s head.

“We’re going grocery shopping,” Mai said, a medical mask landing softly on Sokka’s hand. Sokka blinked. 

“Okay,” he answered, looking down at the dog in his lap. And he was  _ genuinely _ confused. But there was no way this could be bad. How could it? Over the past few weeks, Sokka and Mai had barely said ten words to each other. Probably she just wanted to get to know him better or… something. She didn’t seem to have any real interest in him as a person outside of the fact that they were both Psych Majors. But more than likely she wouldn’t take him to the store just to tell him to piss off and move out. So it was fine. It was chill. It was cool. 

Right? 

Gently, he worked himself out from under Kustaa’s head and stood. The dog huffed again from the floor. “Sorry, buddy,” Sokka mumbled to him with a small smile. 

“Can I come too?” Ty Lee asked, peeking out from around the doorframe to her and Mai’s room. Her hair was pulled up in a towel on her head and a toothbrush hung out of the side of her mouth. 

“No,” Mai said with a smile that she seemed to reserve only for Ty Lee. “It’s just going to be Sokka and I.” 

Ty Lee hummed and took the toothbrush out of her mouth. “Did you ask Zuko about this first?”  _ The fuck does  _ _ that _ _ mean? _ Sokka wondered, considering that Mai hadn’t even asked for  _ Sokka’s _ permission before deciding to kidnap him. 

“I don’t have to. He’s my roommate too,” she answered with a nod towards Sokka. “This will be a… bonding experience.” 

* * *

For being in the midst of a pandemic, Sokka was shocked at how crowded Meijer’s was. And, essentially, no one had a mask on. He was aware that they were being told  _ not _ to buy the medical grade masks so that they could go to healthcare workers, but it still felt…  _ wrong. _ Sokka had to keep reminding himself that a lot of these people probably didn’t get their flu shot regularly either and he really shouldn’t be expecting better from any of them. 

“What are we here for again?” Sokka asked, leaning on the handle of the shopping cart. 

“Cheap booze and the biggest bag of potting soil we can find… Mostly cheap booze, though,” Mai deadpanned, not looking up from the bags of dry rice in her hands. He appreciated her particular brand of sarcasm. 

“Oh, so that’s why we’re looking at rice,” he responded, putting more of his weight on the cart. She made a sound that was similar to a muffled chuckle and continued looking. 

This was… not how Sokka expected his afternoon to go. He had been planning on continuing his search for a new apartment, but then there was the whole Lockdown Order thing and it suddenly looked like Sokka was now a permanent resident with the trio. Which was  _ fine! _ He enjoyed the company of all of them. It was just…  _ weird. _ That first night he had met Zuko was awful and he was a wreck and—

“Sokka?” 

Sokka tensed and stood up straight. Mai looked over her shoulder at the voice, eyes narrowing.  _ That’s not a good sign, _ Sokka thought to himself, preparing for the inevitable and turning around and… 

And it was  _ Norreq. _

Standing behind him in the aisle, looking… nervous. He had a mask on and was standing well over six feet away, so it wasn’t  _ that _ that was pissing Sokka off to see him. But why was he in  _ this _ Meijer out of all the ones that were arguably closer to the apartment? He didn’t come here looking for Sokka, did he? How would he even know where he was living now? Kaya wasn’t still tracking—

A bag of rice landed hard in the cart behind Sokka and Mai snapped, “What do you want?” She had turned to face him fully, stepping slightly in front of Sokka. 

Norreq flinched, eyes landing on the floor then on Sokka and then on the shelves nearby. “I—uh, nothing, I just was—Sokka, I didn’t expect you to be here.” 

“Can say the same for you, buddy,” Sokka answered flatly, still vastly confused as to how he ended up in  [ this situation ](https://youtu.be/BNlyZSvsNjw?t=227) at all. 

“Yeah, I, uh, guess that’s fair,” Norreq answered, scratching the back of his neck. Other store-goers were giving the three of them strange stares, trying to figure out why there was rice being thrown and tension in the air. For a moment, Sokka considered turning back around and leaving it just at that, but curiosity got the better of him. 

“Why are you even here, Norreq?” he asked, sounding more annoyed than he intended. It was probably for the best anyway. Honestly, he didn’t want to actually  _ talk _ to Norreq, but he was naturally curious and had questions, okay? If he could get answers, he wanted them. 

Norreq straightened and met Sokka’s eyes. “I fucked up, man. You didn’t deserve that and I’m—” 

“Norreq,” Sokka tried to interrupt. 

“No,” he said back. “Sokka, I’m sorry. I fucked up and I’m legitimately sorry. You’re my best friend, man, and I shouldn’t have done what I did.” 

Sokka readjusted his weight on his feet, trying to keep his expression unphased. Sighing, he said, “I meant why are you  _ here _ —in this Meijer when there were plenty of closer places.” 

Norreq blinked and just stared at him for a moment. “Oh… uh…” He scratched the back of his neck and took a few steps forward. “I heard this one had toilet paper,” he said in a near whisper, looking sort of sheep— 

There was a hand gripping Sokka’s bicep, forcefully yanking him around. “Thanks and fuck off!” Mai yelled over her shoulder as she pushed Sokka into the cart, dragging him along as she nearly ran out of the aisle. 

“Where are we going?” Sokka asked, trying his best to keep up. People were throwing glares at them as they passed and he was a little worried they might get thrown out. 

Mai slowed a bit, looking over at him with a weird look in her eyes. “We’re getting toilet paper.” 

* * * 

“What the fuck was that?” Sokka asked amusedly, now that they were safe in the confines of the toy aisle. Mai let go of the cart with a chuckle, doubling over slightly and putting her hands on her thighs. Snatching a pack of toilet paper out of the cart of a woman with a blunt, asymmetrical bob and boot-cut jeans and then promptly flipping off said woman was not something Sokka had expected out of Mai. He wasn’t saying the lady didn’t deserve it—she had about twelve different packs of toilet paper in her cart alone—he just hadn’t expected Mai to actually do it.

Well… considering he had only known her for two weeks, he probably shouldn’t expect anything from her. 

“Ty Lee is about ninety percent of my  [ impulse ](https://youtu.be/cSWqxbswQAY?t=62) control,” Mai joked, laughing a bit harder at herself. 

Sokka snorted. “Really? I wouldn’t have guessed.” Playfully, Mai shoved him and he stumbled into shelves of large plastic dinosaurs, knocking a few over. Scrambling, the two of them barely prevented the toys from hitting the floor, eyes wide and laughter dying. After a moment of fumbling and panic, they made eye contact. 

“We’re getting PhDs,” Mai started. 

“Doesn’t mean we can’t be dumbasses,” Sokka smiled, finally moving to put the dinosaurs back. Mai let out a small chuckle, helping him reshelf the toys. 

Still laughing slightly, she said, “Zuko really likes you.” 

“Huh?” 

“He likes you. And I’ve got to say, I like you too.”  _ Oh… _ platonic, of course. Platonic liking people. Yes. That’s something Sokka was familiar with. 

“Oh, cool. I like you too.” 

Somewhere under the mask Mai smiled, cheeks pushing up into her eyes. “Trust me, you’re not the only one who’s been cheated on. Zuko’s had… it means a lot that he likes you.” There was somewhere she was going with this. Mai chuckled dryly. “He also has a real stick up his ass but I think you could pull it out of him if he’ll let you.” Sokka dropped a dinosaur on his foot. Mai slapped his shoulder. “Not like that!” Quietly, she added something that sounded like, “pervert” but it was muffled by the mask. 

Putting his hands up defensively, Sokka turned towards her. “I’m sorry! I wasn’t expecting you to tell me to pull a stick out of someone’s ass!” 

“How crude. I’d never say anything like that,” she said flatly,  _ definitely _ smirking at him. Sokka rolled his eyes with a soft chortle. This was going much better than he anticipated… all things considered. 

As they finished cleaning up their mess and they stopped laughing at their own stupidity, Mai crossed her arms and looked Sokka in the eyes. “Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” In lieu of an answer, Mai simply stared, her head cocked to one side, letting Sokka’s brain catch up. Right, Norreq. He had randomly found him in a Meijer and had actually tried to apologize again. In public. As if he hadn’t flipped Sokka’s life on it’s head. As if—Sokka didn’t want to explore these emotions surrounded by fucking plastic trucks and dinos. 

Feeling his shoulders drop a little, Sokka answered, “That’s not something I’m going to discuss in the toy aisle.” 

Mai shrugged. “Fair enough… but can we pretend that it’s ruined your entire day so we can go buy a shit ton of wine?” 

Sokka smiled. “What else would we do, Mai?” 

* * *

“Wait, can I stop you real quick?” Sokka asked, two glasses of wine in and a little giggly. 

Mai rolled her eyes. “Absolutely not, we’re questioning you,” she replied, a small smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. She had a very special brand of sarcasm and he  [ loved it. ](https://www.instagram.com/p/CHV0f8TlN9k/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet)

“I need to know how you guys met Ty Lee. Because I know you and Zuko dated in high school, but I can’t figure out where you know her from.” 

“Oh, I dated Zuko’s sister in college,” Ty Lee answered nonchalantly. Sokka nearly spit his wine out through his nose. It was more out of shock than anything else. Zuko just quietly stared at his phone. Sokka looked at him for a moment before returning his gaze to the two women on the other side of the table.

“We bonded over the trauma dating Hino siblings,” Mai quipped. At that, Zuko flipped her off without looking up from his phone. 

“Why isn’t she living with you then?” Sokka asked casually. “I get it’s a two bedroom but I feel like she’s an important part of the dynamic here.” 

Zuko finally looked up and directly at Sokka. “She is living in a penthouse in downtown New York without any roommates, not working, and living off our father’s money.” 

“Excuse me?  _ What? _ ” Sokka asked, legitimately flabbergasted. Consideration flashed over Zuko’s face so briefly that Sokka would have missed it had he not been staring at him. Sokka glanced over at Mai and Ty Lee who were having a heated nonverbal discussion. He wasn’t sure what he had just gotten himself into, but he did want to find out. 

“Long story,” Zuko answered, picking his glass back up.

“Why are all of your stories long?” Sokka asked only  _ partially _ intending for it to be rhetorical. 

“He just doesn’t want to talk about it, usually,” Mai commented, not looking over at them. Zuko shot her a look despite this. “He says things are long stories to deter people from asking.” After a moment, Sokka decided to push further. 

“Well, we’ve got all night, buddy. None of us have anywhere to be tomorrow.” Sokka said, making direct eye contact with Zuko and hoping he’d take it as a challenge. 

Zuko sighed and sat the glass back down in order to rub a hand over his face. “My father is Ozai Sozin.” 

“Oh, shit!” Sokka nearly shouted, leaning forward in his chair a little. If he had had anything in his mouth, he would have spat it everywhere. “Ozai  _ Sozin?! _ Like the  _ CEO _ of Sozin Automotives?  _ That _ one?” 

Zuko rolled his eyes and took another sip of wine. “The one and only, unfortunately.” 

“ _ ‘Unfortunately?’ _ Dude, you must be rolling it in! Why are you…” He trailed off as Mai caught his eye, words catching and freezing under her icy glare. She was really good at that, Sokka should ask her to teach him sometime. Zuko was staring at something on the counter in the kitchen. Ty Lee’s eyes were bouncing between the three of them. Sokka would admit that he hadn’t drank this much wine in a while and was definitely missing something… oh,  **_shit._ ** This definitely had something to do with the scar and it had taken Sokka too long to put that together.

Finally, Zuko sighed and turned back towards Sokka. “I guess it was going to come up eventually,” he said, making eye contact with him. “The condensed version is that my father was abusive… is abusive.” Zuko shrugged. “When I was thirteen, my sister and I had to go live with our uncle and our father wasn’t allowed to have contact with us. He still weaseled his way back into our lives when we started college. The difference was I came out and got disowned. She stayed in the closet and is inheriting the company,” Zuko stated, still maintaining eye contact with Sokka. 

“Holy fuck,” Sokka mumbled, sitting back in his chair. Again, Sokka wasn’t sure what to expect, but it  _ certainly  _ wasn’t that. “I—shit, that’s awful. I didn’t—I’m sorry I made you bring it up.” Zuko just hummed. Ty Lee sat her phone screen-down on the table and clapped her hands together. 

“Okay, let’s lighten the mood,” she said with a forced smile. “Sokka, have you ever seen a ghost?” 

“ _ Personally, _ no,” Sokka said with a small shake of his head. It was weird, trying to just  _ move on _ from everything Zuko had just said. “But my sister swears she saw all three of our dead grandparents.”

“Like at night?” Ty Lee asked curiously, leaning forward slightly.

Sokka shook his head. “No, during the day,” he answered. For a second he thought he’d just leave it at that, but just to fill the silence a bit longer, he continued, “She said she saw both our mom’s parents standing in her window when she came home from school one day, even though they both lived and died up in Alaska. She also said she saw our Gramp-Gramp standing in the kitchen once when she was like… ten?” Sokka shrugged and sipped more wine. “I’m not sure how true that is considering they died  _ years _ before we were even conceived. Plus! I’m named after our Gramp-Gramp and she’s named after our Aaka, meaning we have their souls.” Sokka pointed a quick finger gun at her before drinking another mouthful of wine. Ty Lee nodded, seeming to accept the answer though mildly disappointed. 

“So I take it you’ve seen one because you brought it up,” he stated, hoping she’d hear the unvoiced question. She perked up a little with a small smile. 

“When I was younger, I always saw people standing in cemeteries when we went past them. We were visiting one of my grandparents’ graves and I kept staring at this woman who was crying really loudly and one of my sisters asked what I was looking at. So I told her and she just made a face and said we were the only people there.” 

Sokka raised his eyebrows at it and hummed slightly. He didn’t necessarily  _ believe _ in ghosts, despite what his family told him his whole life about reincarnation and  [ the northern lights ](https://www.bivrost.com/the-inuits-and-the-aurora-spirits/) ; more than likely death was final with nothing after it. So while he was fairly certain he was right on that, he hadn’t exactly  _ died _ yet in order to prove it and so he wasn’t going to try to discredit anyone. 

Mediums were a different story, though. He’d roast _those_ [fuckers](https://youtu.be/WhMGcp9xIhY) any day. 

After a moment, Ty Lee glanced back down at her phone. With a small frown, she simply stated, “Zuko and Mai don’t have any good ghost stories.”

“Sorry, ghosts just fear me,” Mai deadpanned, leaning slightly into Ty Lee’s side. At that, Ty Lee giggled and wrapped her arm around her. Zuko rolled his eyes a little, sitting back in his chair. And Sokka hurt. It had been so easy to delete Kaya’s number and delete every photo he had ever taken with or of her. He was so angry with her and Norreq but… he missed them both. A part of him deep down missed the familiarity and easiness of being around them. He missed that they both knew him and he didn’t have to recount simple facts of himself to them. But he didn’t miss them  _ as people. _ He was emotionally aware enough to know that he missed familiarity more than them. Even seeing Norreq today didn’t make Sokka any less angry at him. Didn’t make him want to put his tail between his legs and sulk to their apartment. He just—nails dug into his thigh and there was a tongue on his cheek. 

“Kustaa, down,” Sokka said with a small, forced laugh. Kustaa had taken his place on the couch half an hour ago and Sokka had assumed he was asleep for the night. Turns out, Sokka was wrong about a lot of things. 

As the dog returned all of his paws to the floor and Sokka wiped his face with his sleeve, Zuko said, “I don’t know why you’d want a dog that big.” 

Sokka shrugged with a small smile. “I just think they’re  [ neat. ](https://youtu.be/DrQqajtiRt4?t=14) ” Zuko looked thoroughly unconvinced and folded his arms slightly. There was no biting back the smile that started creeping across Sokka’s face. “But I guess I know where you’re coming from because I don’t know why you’d  _ ever _ want a cat,” he teased. 

“Me neither,” Zuko answered without missing a  _ fucking _ beat. 

“Don’t you have two of them?” Sokka asked with a laugh. He hadn’t met a single cat while living there… yet. But the other three all talked about it— _ them? _ —often enough that he knew it was there somewhere. All Sokka knew that there was at least one named “Druk” and another one referred to exclusively as “the bastard” or “brat cat.” Or those were terms of endearment for Druk, possibly. 

Zuko shook his head. “No, just the bastard.” Before Sokka could ask anything more about the feline, Zuko decided to change the subject. “Mai, remind me why you brought home the grossest wine I’ve ever had the misfortune of tasting,” Zuko asked drily. 

“We saw Sokka’s buddy again in Meijer’s today.” 

Zuko’s eyebrow furrowed and he turned his gaze back to Sokka. It was a quiet question and Sokka just sighed. “Norreq. Ya know, the one that my girlfriend cheated on me with.” 

Ty Lee scoffed. “What did  _ he _ want?” 

Sokka shrugged. “I don’t think he wanted anything from me, I think he’s just trying to make himself feel better now.” Ty Lee directed a nonverbal question towards Mai. 

“He tried to apologize again,” Mai answered, taking a sip of wine. 

Ty Lee rolled her eyes before turning a sympathetic gaze on Sokka. “Are you okay?” 

Sokka shrugged before remembering that him and Mai were using him being really torn up about it as an excuse to drink. Honestly, he was fine. He was doing fine… Yeah, he was angry but that was a valid emotion for a situation like this and as long as he wasn’t turning it inward like he used to, he was fine. So, as an answer, Sokka said, “I’m fucking pissed, but like…” He shrugged again. “It is what it is.” 

Ty Lee threw a quick look at Mai before reaching over and gently grabbing his hand. “Sokka,” she started, genuine concern in her eyes. “It’s okay to be hurting. I know you probably don’t want to admit to it because adhering to masculinity is one hell of a drug. But you can’t downplay your emotions.” 

_ Fuck, _ Sokka thought. Something like sadness twinged in his gut and… and it hurt. He hadn’t really cried about it since that night they had moved all his stuff out. Had he just not let himself feel it? Was he actually pushing his emotions aside instead of working through them like he thought he had been doing? Or was this just how he was responding to people expressing legitimate care for him now? He took a small sip of wine. Kustaa was staring at him expectantly as if he would share. Mai was looking at something on her phone, but did glance up at him. Obviously, Ty Lee was still giving him  _ that _ look and Sokka didn’t want to keep feeling like he was being pitied. 

From across the table, Sokka caught Zuko’s eye. His mouth was pulled down in a sideways frown, one hand absentmindedly swirling his glass. After a second, Zuko bit his lip and looked down at the table and Sokka turned back to Ty Lee. 

“I—it’s just not something I want to discuss right now, ya know? Like, I’ll be okay, Ty Lee, I promise.” 

“Oh, Sokka,” she said, squeezing his hand. She looked like she wanted to say something else but then her phone buzzed five times in quick succession and she smiled slightly. “Well, looks like you just got out of a heart-to-heart talk. Can I take a picture of you?” 

“Why?” Sokka asked, taking a sip of wine and trying to bury his feelings once again. He would just… deal with them later. At a  _ better, _ more  _ appropriate  _ time. 

“Oh, my friend wants to see what you look like,” Ty Lee answered nonchalantly. 

“I’m fine with you taking a picture, but again,” Sokka said. “Why do they want to see what I look like?” 

“Ty Lee’s friend Suki thinks she knows you,” Mai answered with a slight eye roll as Ty Lee snapped a picture of him. Sokka’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Is her last name Hanahara?” 

Ty Lee’s eyes widened. “Yeah! Suki Hanahara! How do you know her?” 

Sokka sat up straighter. “We dated in college! How do  _ you _ know her?” 

“I grew up with her in  [ Bad Axe ](https://goo.gl/maps/osnqzpuPARmSfkJBA) and  _ I _ dated her in high school!” 

“No shit,” Sokka said in slight disbelief. Did this mean he and Ty Lee had the same taste in women? He didn’t get to think about it for too long before his own phone was buzzing. 

Suki 🔪🔪

_SOKKA_

_EXPLAIN_

_NOW_

“Speak of the devil,” Sokka mumbled, reading over the messages. Ty Lee chuckled.

“That her?”

“Yeah.” His phone buzzed more furiously, this time the screen lighting up with an incoming call. “You want me to put it on speaker?” 

“Of course!” Ty Lee sang, clapping her hands together slightly, while Mai rolled her eyes with a fond smile. 

“Sokka!” Suki’s mildly angered voice rang through the phone. 

“Suki!” Ty-Lee shouted back, over Sokka. “Hi!” 

“Ty-Ty!  _ Babe! _ Hi!” Suki said back, sounding more excited to talk to her than him. 

“Hey, Sooks,” Sokka said at a  _ reasonable _ fucking volume. “What’s up?” 

“Right!” Suki said through the phone. “Sokka, what the  _ fuck? _ How the hell did you end up living with one of my exes from high school?” 

“Why is that a problem?  _ You’re _ the one who is  _ dating _ one of  _ my _ exes from high school!” 

“Yes, but you know how that happened and Yue and I are very happy together. But again, how the hell did you end up sleeping on Ty Lee’s couch?” 

“Uh,” he answered smartly. “Not sure. It just sort of… happened?”

There was silence. Sokka knew her well enough to interpret the hard glare she was giving him in the quiet and her wordless judgement. He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. Tiredly, he asked, “How much do you know already?”

“Well, babe,” Suki answered. “I know you got cheated on and the same night just randomly showed up at her apartment and started sleeping on her couch.” 

“That’s  _ not _ how that happened!” Sokka defended as Ty Lee snickered a bit. “I didn’t just  _ ‘show up,’ _ Zuko invited me!” 

“And how  [ the hell ](https://youtu.be/K6l3h5e4fbg?t=344) do you know Zuko?” she asked, sounding thoroughly unimpressed in a teasing sort of way. 

“Because I got an impulse tattoo,” Sokka answered at the same time that Zuko mumbled something that sounded like, “Here we go.” 

“WHAT?!” Suki screeched. Sokka jumped slightly. Zuko downed the entirety of his more than half-full glass of wine. “What the fuck, Zuko! Is he there? I need to have some fucking words with him otherwise I’m going to pack my shit and drive down there and—” 

“I know, Suki,” Zuko interrupted, exhausted and much louder than normal so she could hear him.

“Then explain!” 

He made a face—some mix of  [ confusion and disgust ](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FU2wyCQ3_ho/VEb96BGAhlI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/E_itbfgHPvQ/s1600/lin-beifong-1024x575.jpg) —and answered, “I don’t have to explain shit to you.” 

“Babe!” Suki yelled. “How many years has it been now that I have been trying to get you to tat me and you just  _ won’t _ do it!” 

“Suki, you know I’ve only been tattooing for a year.” 

“Actually, it’s been a year and a half. I’ve kept track because you won’t give a tattoo!” 

“You know I don’t do friends,” Zuko said exhaustedly. 

“But you tattooed Sokka!” 

“I didn’t know Sokka and if it makes you feel better, I wouldn’t have tattooed him had I known he was friends with you because I would have thought he was just as insufferable.” 

Knitting his eyebrows together as Suki yelled something else at Zuko, Sokka turned towards Mai and Ty Lee. “Should I be offended by that?” 

Ty Lee shrugged and Mai smirked slightly and said, “I think you should take it as a compliment.” 

* * *

Sokka liked to pride himself on the fact that he was a heavy sleeper. It was the main reason why him sleeping on the couch was working out at all. But waking up to Zuko frustratedly shaking him was making him second guess that… only a little.

“What did I miss?” Sokka asked groggily, rubbing at his eyes and trying to find his phone in Kustaa’s mess of fur. Before he could fully process what was happening, Zuko clamped a hand over Sokka’s mouth and shushed him.  _ He could kill me so easily like this, _ Sokka thought to himself, not really grasping the full implications of that thought. So still half asleep and with no sense of self-preservation, Sokka just stared at him wide-eyed and made no attempts to free his face. 

“Be quiet,” Zuko whispered. “I don’t want to wake Mai and Ty Lee up.” Sokka nodded, eyebrows knitting slightly, and Zuko released him. “We’re going to go glitter bomb Norreq and Kaya’s apartment.” 

“What?” Sokka quietly yelled back. “Why?” 

Zuko froze for a second, just staring at his face. “Because fuck them?” 

Sokka felt himself make a face before he could stop it. “Zuko, it’s like two in the morning. Won’t we get the cops called on us.” 

“Not if we don’t get caught.” 

* * *

Of all the stupid things Sokka had done in his life, this was probably at the top of the list. That included when he attempted to remove a fish hook from his thumb with another fish hook. That was only stupid because had Gran-Gran not found him first, he  _ would have  _ used a third, bigger fishing hook to remove the first two. It also included the fact that he thought everyone just couldn’t read the whiteboard and were all faking it and so didn’t get glasses until his Junior year of high school… And now also included that he thought Kaya and Norreq cuddling in front of him on the couch was platonic.

Bottom line, Sokka was a bit of a dumbass by nature. He would willingly admit that. 

But breaking into his old apartment in the dead of night in order to cover the place in glitter was  _ stupid. _ It was a bit more than stupid because it was probably illegal and— _ wait… _ was this illegal? He was still on the lease for the apartment until the end of April when they’d be renewing it anyway and he had the key still. So it might not  _ technically _ be legal. 

Maybe. 

Sokka wasn’t going to think too hard about it as he tried to unlock the door as silently as possible. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” he asked Zuko over his shoulder. 

“Only if we don’t get caught, so  _ shut up, _ ” Zuko hissed back, eyes darting around the empty, dark hallway. Probably most of the neighbors didn’t even know who Sokka was to begin with but would recognize him vaguely enough to not question it. They more than likely wouldn’t know that he didn’t  _ actually _ live there anymore. 

“Okay, okay… jeez,” Sokka mumbled under his breath as the lock clicked and he gently pushed the door open. 

Not much had changed in the apartment since the last time Sokka had seen it. There was still a pile of jackets on the back of a kitchen chair and an overflowing recycling bin. A small stack of dishes was residing in the kitchen sink. All of Kaya’s shoes were still fighting for space near the door. Everything was almost exactly the same as the day when Sokka had left. 

Quietly, Zuko nudged his arm with a large bottle of glitter. Sokka took it and turned it over in his hands a few times. It was just craft glitter, barely catching the dim moonlight that spilled through the cracks of the blinds. He ached at the realization that his presence wasn’t missed here. Life here had continued on normally without him and it was like he didn’t even matter. Sokka bit his lip to keep back a bitter laugh. All things considered, they had already made it clear that he didn’t matter to the two of them. 

But he  _ did _ matter. 

He had gone through enough years of therapy to know that. And Norreq was right, he didn’t deserve this. But knowing that didn’t make it hurt less. 

Sokka unscrewed the cap and tossed the contents into the kitchen. Glitter spilled over the linoleum counter and the tiled floor. Before Sokka could stare at it for too long and start to maybe feel bad, Zuko just handed him another bottle with a small smirk. And Sokka smiled back at him. 

The next half an hour was spent with the two of them opening bottles of glitter and tossing them in various parts of the apartment. Two bottles were dedicated to thoroughly coating the fabric couch. Four bottles ended up scattered throughout the bathroom, including dumping some in Kaya’s shampoo bottle. Sokka would admit that that may have been a step too far, but she cheated on him with his old best friend and completely upheaved his entire fucking life. She deserved some glitter in her fucking shampoo. If they were going to just move on as if nothing had happened, as if it didn’t matter whether or not he was there, then they… then he could dump the art world equivalent of herpes all over their fucking apartment. Make them remember exactly who they had hurt in this apartment. Let it stick to their clothes and hair and skin. 

And then they were standing outside the closed door of Sokka’s old room. As angry as he was, he was suddenly nervous. It was one thing to know that the rest of the apartment hadn’t changed without him, but this room definitely would have. Kaya would have moved her stuff out of it and into Norreq’s old room. What would they have done with his bed? Well, it wasn’t exactly  _ his _ bed, Norreq’s mom had given to him when they had moved here. Nonetheless, it was a large piece of furniture to just do  _ nothing _ with. Had they moved his desk? What were they using the room for now? Was it just sitting empty? 

As the door creaked open, Sokka felt his heart jump into his throat. The room was unmistakably  _ not _ empty. All Sokka could see before he nearly slammed the door closed was two bodies laying in what used to be his bed. There was a lump in his throat as his brain struggled to put together what he had seen. Were Kaya and Norreq using  _ his _ room now? 

“Sokka, what the hell?” Zuko whispered into his ear through his teeth, gripping Sokka’s arm. “We need to be quiet if we don’t want to get caught.” 

Sokka shook his head. “They’re sleeping in there.” 

Zuko’s eyebrow furrowed. “What?” he asked in disbelief. Before Sokka got the chance to respond, the question was promptly answered by the sound of a mattress creaking. Zuko’s eyes widened in panic and his fingers dug into the muscle of Sokka’s arms. Someone grumbled slightly, sounding half asleep, but the mattress groaned again as the person stood up. And Sokka grabbed Zuko by the wrist and pulled him into what used to be Norreq’s room. 

“Why are we in here? Why didn’t we just leave?” Zuko hissed at him, eyes still wide. 

“I don’t know, I panicked!” Sokka quietly shouted back. He had somehow managed to silently close the door behind him so they should be okay for the few minutes it would take whoever to get up to investigate or pee or whatever and go back to bed. It was fine, it would be fine, they weren’t going to—

“Hello?” Kaya asked tiredly. Sokka’s heart nearly stopped. “I heard somewhere out here!” 

“Closet,” Zuko mouthed, pointing to the door to their right. Sokka only nodded. 

Looking back, Sokka would remember how he and Norreq had assigned rooms when they had first moved in and it would explain a lot. Norreq had gotten the room with more actual bedroom space, but Sokka had gotten the bigger closet. Mostly because Norreq was straight and  _ literally _ only owned seven shirts and four pairs of pants. Being crammed into said closet with Zuko was what forced Sokka to remember this fact. 

Sokka’s back was up against the wall, head barely brushing the metal shelf above him. In the darkness, he couldn’t see Zuko, but he could feel him. Zuko’s chest was pressed flush against Sokka’s. He assumed his head was turned because there was the quiet sound of Zuko swallowing hard and a definite absence of Zuko’s face right in front of him. Sokka had been holding his hands in the air in order to try to give Zuko a bit more personal space, but he wasn’t entirely convinced it was working. He could feel Zuko’s heart hammering in his—wait, that could have been his own. They had just nearly sprinted into this room and then hurriedly wiggled into the empty closet. So maybe the pounding heartbeat Sokka was feeling was actually his, but he could still feel how heavily Zuko was breathing. His chest was quickly rising and falling against Sokka’s. It was warmer in there than Sokka had expected—or it was just the result of having another person within his personal space. 

Distantly, there were now two muffled voices. Kaya had apparently woken Norreq up. It was hard but if Sokka really focused he thought he could hear Norreq trying to convince her to come back to bed. Naturally, Kaya was growing increasingly louder. 

“No, I swear I heard someone!” 

There was a response too quiet and jumbled to make out. 

“No! I know I wasn’t dreaming, Norreq! There was someone talking outside our room. I told you we should have installed those damn cameras! But you said no. Now someone might have broken in.” 

Zuko let out a shaking breath and he minutely moved away from Sokka. Kaya was still yelling about cameras and someone being in the apartment, but Sokka didn’t want to listen to her anymore. Zuko’s breathing was getting faster and Sokka was starting to get concerned. 

“Are you worried the cops are going to show up?” Sokka joked instead of asking any sort of genuine question. 

“Shut up,” Zuko whispered back, seemingly through his clenched teeth. “They can’t hear us or we actually  _ will _ get the cops called on us.” 

“Oh, fuck off, Norreq. You  _ know _ I’m right!” Kaya shouted, now a little too near for comfort.

Sokka softened his voice more than before. “Have you actually been arrested?” 

Zuko made a noise that sounded like a breathy scoff. “Thought I was clear on that point.” 

“You have?!” Sokka asked at almost a normal speaking volume. Zuko’s hand slapped over his mouth. The rapid heartbeat Sokka felt this time was definitely his. 

“Did you hear that, Norreq! There’s someone in here!” Kaya yelled somewhere through the walls. Zuko’s grip on Sokka’s face tightened, his arm shaking slightly. Norreq was quietly saying something back. And Zuko only seemed to tremble more.  _ Should I try to calm him down? _ Sokka thought to himself.  _ This is probably going to end badly no matter what I do. _

Hesitantly, Sokka placed a hand on Zuko’s elbow, which promptly tensed. Even in the dark, Sokka could see Zuko pull his head back slightly to try to look Sokka in the eyes. At which point, Sokka decided he might as well go all in and placed his other hand on Zuko’s left arm. 

Promptly, Zuko released Sokka’s face and whispered into his ear, “What are you doing?” 

“Dude, just calm down,” Sokka muttered back. “Kaya will burn herself out eventually.” 

“How can you expect me to be calm in this situation? We might get the cops called on us and you want me to  _ calm down? _ ” 

“Zuko, I’m on the lease, I have a key,” Sokka tried to reassure. 

“I don’t!” This time Zuko seemed to catch himself whispering almost a little too loud and audibly clamped his mouth shut. 

“I can’t fucking believe you, Norreq! Why can’t you just ever…” A door closed and the conversation faded further. Whether it was from just being woken up or the dim light, neither Norreq nor Kaya had seemed to notice the piles of glitter scattered through the apartment. Sokka let out a breath he hadn’t remembered holding. Zuko looked at him, their noses touching for just a second before Zuko turned his head once again. 

“We should get out of here while they’re busy fighting,” Sokka whispered into Zuko’s ear. A shiver ran through Zuko’s body and Sokka tried his best to ignore it. Right now wasn’t the time to start catching  _ actual _ feelings for someone he’s known less than a month. “Knowing Kaya, she’ll be too focused on trying to prove she’s right to notice and Norreq is probably still half asleep.”

“Okay,” was all Zuko muttered back. 

* * *

“Where did you even get all that glitter from?” Sokka asked as Zuko pulled back into his parking spot outside the apartment complex. 

“Where did you think I got it?” he answered. 

Tired, Sokka rolled his eyes and replied, “Bet you got it all from going to Pride.” 

“I mean… not all of it…” Zuko grumbled under his breath. Unable to stop himself, Sokka let out a snort. 

“Really? You really bring glitter to Pride?” 

“Ty Lee likes it,” he responded nonchalantly. “But a lot of it is from when I was in undergrad.” 

Sokka chuckled. “What, do the universities around here just give out glitter to their undergrads?” 

“No… I was a theatre arts major.” 

“You were a theatre major?” 

“...I was also an arts major,” Zuko quietly admitted. And Sokka just laughed. 

“You double majored in  _ art _ and  _ theatre _ and are now using those degrees as a tattoo artist?” Sokka asked as Zuko unlocked the door. 

“Well, I didn’t graduate, so I don’t exactly have any degrees to use towards anything.” 

“What?” Sokka said before he could stop himself. “What do you mean didn’t gradu—” 

“Where the hell have you two been?” Mai asked, arms crossed over her chest. Ty Lee was curled up in one of the arm chairs, still fast asleep. 

Zuko shrugged. “We had some errands to run.” 

“At three in the morning?” Mai sighed as Zuko didn’t respond and just pulled his shoes off. She looked up and met Sokka’s eyes. “I expected better from you.” 

“We were dumping glitter all over Norreq and Kaya’s apartment,” Sokka explained and Zuko shot him a glare. Mai simply rolled her eyes. 

“Should have figured.” Gently, Mai shook Ty Lee awake. “They’re back. Let’s go to bed.” 

“M’kay,” Ty Lee mumbled in response, oversized t-shirt swishing over her knees. And then it was just Sokka and Zuko again. 

“Hey,” Sokka started. “What were you going to say earlier about—” 

“Goodnight,” Zuko interrupted, stalking off towards his room. 

“Oh… goodnight, Zuko.” 

* * *

A week later, Sokka was sitting on the couch, trying his absolute  _ best _ to be a functional adult. He was in the middle of typing up a report for his supervising professor when something brushed against his neck. Jumping slightly, he looked back to meet the eyes of a graying black cat that hunched, hissed, and scratched Sokka’s face before he could even figure out what was happening. 

“Ow! What the fuck,” Sokka said in surprise, placing a hand over his cheek. Kustaa’s head lifted off the ground and just watched the cat disappear down the short hallway where Zuko was looking… disappointed. 

“Did he scratch you?” 

“Yes!” Sokka said, semi-yelling. “All I did was look at him!” 

Zuko hummed, walking over to the kitchenette and wetting a towel. “Did you make eye-contact with him?” he asked over the sound of the faucet. 

“Yes?” 

Zuko shrugged. “He takes it as a challenge,” he answered, handing Sokka the damp washcloth. “You should have seen my arms when we first got him. Especially after we took him to the vet to get neutered. It was like he knew what was going to happen.” 

Sokka chuckled, placing the cloth on his bleeding cheek. “In all fairness, I always hated going to the doctor when I was a kid too.” Zuko hummed and continued standing near the couch, arms crossed. 

“No, he normally loves the vet. I think it’s because they give him treats,” Zuko said with a slight eye roll. There was a pause. “He was a very food-focused stray that used to hang outside our building and meow at people until they fed him. It was really pathetic, but a few of the older ladies wanted to have him put down because allegedly he kept getting their cats pregnant.” 

“So you took him in?” 

“ _ Ty Lee _ took him in, but I’m the only one he seems to actually tolerate.” 

Sokka hummed. “Druk sure is a weird cat,” he absentmindedly commented, pulling the cloth away from his face and glancing at it. Zuko’s eyebrow furrowed. 

“Druk’s not a cat. The brat cat’s name is Zeus.” Sokka gaped at him. 

“ [ Excuse I? ](https://youtu.be/UBgrsC6uHUk?t=23) ” Zuko blinked at Sokka. “Who the  _ hell _ is Druk?” 

“My  [ snake, ](https://www.instagram.com/p/CHYI5pgFiIH/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet) ” Zuko answered, sounding like it was supposed to be obvious. 

“You have a  _ snake? _ ” Sokka’s body felt like it was taking a screenshot. 

So the first time Sokka saw Zuko’s room was because he had to be introduced to a [Corn Snake](https://www.marylandzoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/cornsnake_web_1-1024x683.jpg) named Druk. It didn’t take long for Sokka to realize that Zuko was a lot cleaner and more organized than he was. There weren’t clothes scattered across his floor or papers across his desk. His bed was made—which was notable only in the sense of _who the hell_ _makes_ their bed—and there was a pile of books neatly stacked on one end of his desk. Druk’s enclosure was tucked into one corner of the room, a heat lamp on, and a mini fridge nestled under the table. Sure, his room was cluttered, but still organized. And Zuko was holding a snake out to him. 

“Uh,” Sokka said like the PhD student he was. 

“Do you want to hold him?” 

“I—uh, sure,” Sokka settled on eventually.

“Hold your hands out,” Zuko mumbled and Sokka complied. Quietly, Zuko sat the snake down into Sokka’s open palms. He had to admit, for as big as the snake looked, he was a lot  _ lighter _ than expected. For a moment, the red serpent remained curled in Sokka’s hands, flicking his tongue in and out.  _ This isn’t so bad. Yeah… this is okay, _ Sokka thought, trying to quell any of his uneasiness. It was just a snake. It probably wasn’t venomous. It was fine. It was okay.

And then Druk got curious and started up Sokka’s shirt sleeve. Sokka’s heart started racing. “Uh, I don’t want him to—can I, like—will he bite me?” 

“No,” Zuko answered with a small smile. Gently, Zuko grabbed Druk and pulled him back out of Sokka’s sleeve and sat him back on his arm above the fabric. “He doesn’t bite. You can just move him if you don’t want him somewhere.” Zuko’s hand brushed Sokka’s as he pulled back from readjusting Druk. Sokka’s heart was fluttering for a very different reason.

“Oh…” he muttered, eyes glued on Zuko’s face and swallowing thickly. He could feel Druk continue his way up Sokka’s arm, but he didn’t really care. It had been a while since he and Zuko had been alone. Sokka thought time was diluting his  _ very minor _ crush on Zuko, but nope! Nope, nope, nope… 

In the red light of the heat lamp, Zuko’s eyes looked almost golden. They were the softest Sokka had ever seen them, staring down at Druk. There was a small smile pulling at his mouth, his cheek wrinkling slightly under his scar in an almost smile line. A few strands of hair had fallen into his face from his ponytail. If there wasn’t a snake in his hands, Sokka might have reached up and tucked a strand behind Zuko’s ear. His scar looked redder in this light too, drawing Sokka’s gaze to it. He hadn’t exactly looked at it—like, really  _ looked _ at it. The edges of it were rough and it trailed down his jaw and neck, disappearing somewhere under his shirt. The closer he looked, the more Sokka could see little patches of his neck with smaller patches of scar tissue like a paint splatter against his skin. He couldn’t imagine where it had come from, what trauma it was a reminder of, what Zuko might look like without it. But with or without it, he was beautiful, Sokka thought. He had recognized it right as he met him and he was doing it again. 

“I think he likes you,” Zuko whispered, reaching out to pull Druk out of the collar of Sokka’s shirt. 

“Y-yeah,” Sokka responded, hoping Zuko would think he was just nervous. 

“Cutie,” Zuko mumbled to Druk, either forgetting that Sokka was there or just not caring what Sokka thought… was that first statement even directed at Sokka? Somewhere between that thought and Zuko’s next sentence, Sokka stopped breathing. 

“You're such a curious little guy. Did you like that?” Zuko’s finger’s brushed the palm of Sokka’s hand as he picked Druk up fully. Zuko didn’t even glance at him, smiling still at the snake and turning to return him to his enclosure. “I hope you had fun, Druk.” 

Sokka knew he had a type. Generally, it was powerful women—usually, those who either A) could easily beat him up or B) accomplished vastly more impressive things than he could ever hope to. He wasn’t afraid to admit that. But when it came to guys, he had barely let himself  _ really _ explore what he was into outside of eye candy. Could it be muscular guys? Dudes with dad bods? More feminine guys? Unfortunately straight dudes? Guys with scars who talked to snakes like you might talk to a kitten with soft eyes and shaggy hair? 

Frighteningly, Sokka realized his crush on Zuko might be bigger than anticipated. 

* * *

“What the fuck are these?” Zuko asked, looking up at Sokka from the pack of markers he had thrown on the table in front of him. 

“They’re called tattoo markers!” Sokka answered brightly. “I saw them at Meijer and thought you might want them.” 

Zuko sat his cup down and sat up straight. Sokka smirked and pulled out the chair next to him, legs  [ straddling ](https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/photo/man-sitting-on-a-backwards-chair-royalty-free-image/78480138) the back of the chair. Sighing slightly, Zuko closed his eyes and asked, “Why the hell do you think I’d want these?” 

Sokka shrugged. “You seemed bored.” Zuko scoffed. Sokka was trying to play it off as a joke, just something innocuous and banal. Because he had nothing better to do most of the time, Sokka had watched Zuko read several books over the course of the last month. Then reread a few of them. Then just open a random book and stare at a page and never flip to another one. 

“I’m not bored,” Zuko stated, folding his arms. Sokka had tried to talk him into watching  [ Tiger King ](https://twitter.com/abygrrl189/status/1241492105522003969?s=20) with him, but he’d declined, stating something about not liking to watch T.V. For a while—well, like, two days—Sokka had taken that as a challenge and tried to rope him into it, but no avail. 

Sokka rolled his eyes with a smile. “Dude, I’m bored and I haven’t read the same book three times.” So now Sokka was trying to relate to Zuko on one of the very few things he knew about him. Tattoos. Sokka didn’t like snakes enough or know anything about them to attempt something like that. Mai had said that Zuko would figure himself out eventually. Ty Lee had muttered something about him being a workaholic. Sokka just wanted to help. 

Cautiously, Zuko picked up the package and looked it over. “And markers are supposed to help that?” He had lost the edge to his voice, despite his still steely facade. 

“Yes!” Sokka said enthusiastically. “I’ll let you draw anything you want on me!” 

“Anything?” Zuko asked suspiciously. 

“Anything,” Sokka confirmed. 

Humming slightly, Zuko held out a hand and took out a black marker. “Give me your arm.” 

Sokka smiled at him and sat down. “I think you’re really going to enjoy it.” Zuko hummed, uncapping the marker as Sokka pushed up his sleeve. “I know I feel like I just need something to do right now and I thought that this would give you a good sense of normalcy even though we can’t really have it right now and—what the fuck!” Sokka yanked his arm back as Zuko began to add a second circle to the bottom of an oblong “U” shape. 

“You told me I could draw anything I wanted,” Zuko said casually, capping the tattoo marker. 

“I didn’t mean you could just draw a dick on me!” 

Zuko flicked the marker at him. “Then don’t just assume I’m bored and I want something that reminds me of work next time.” And with that, he got up and left. 

_ Well, fuck him then…  _ Sokka thought to himself.  _ Whoever said sexuality was a choice obviously hasn’t been attracted to a literal asshole.  _

* * *

Sokka woke with a start, which was strange for three reasons: 

  1. There was no one actively trying to wake him up. Sokka normally slept through the entire night and not much could easily wake him, considering he had once slept through Katara almost burning the house down trying to make popcorn in the middle of the night. 
  2. It was two in the fucking morning. Sokka preferred to _not_ be awake before the sun had even risen. It was a personal rule of his that he preferred to adhere to.
  3. Someone was screaming.



Kustaa had heard it long before he did, already sitting patiently outside Zuko’s door and waiting to be let in. Sokka’s bare feet hit the cold floor before he even could think through what he was doing and he half-jogged over to his dog. By the time he got there, the screaming had subsided and Mai was trying to move Kustaa away from the door. 

“Sorry,” Sokka said as he bent down to grab Kustaa’s collar and pull him away from the door. In lieu of a response, Mai just shook her head and put a finger to her lips. And being tired and groggy as he was, Sokka didn’t keep his mouth shut. 

“Is he okay?” 

“Shh…” Mai shushed, looking away from Sokka and towards Zuko’s room. Sighing slightly, she turned the door handle, stopped, and turned her gaze back to Sokka. In a whisper, she said, “Go back to sleep, Sokka.” 

“But is he—” Sokka’s words caught as Mai glared at him. Something was happening that he wasn’t welcomed to be a part of. “Okay,” he mumbled, gently pulling his back towards the couch. Behind him, Mai pushed open the door and slipped into Zuko’s room. 

* * * 

“Sunshine!” Ty Lee called from the bathroom. 

“What’s up, Ty?” Mai answered, not looking up from the line she was highlighting in her book. Kustaa’s ears perked up but he was otherwise uninterested in the interaction. So Sokka just kept scratching his head. 

“Sunshine,” Ty Lee whined, holding out her vowels. “Come help me!” 

Closing her book, Mai asked, “What do you need help with?” 

“There are so many knots in my hair because I didn’t put it up last night and I can’t get them out!” 

“Sounds like a real problem.” With that, Mai capped her highlighter and sighed amusedly, getting up from her spot on the couch. Just as she made her way into the bathroom, Zeus, the black cat, emerged from somewhere, trotting across the floor. Sokka watched as he made his way into the kitchen, spun in a circle three times, sat down, and mewed like he had never been fed in his entire life. Which could only mean one thing… 

“I know, I’m sorry.” Zuko wouldn’t be far behind. 

Zeus made a noise as if Zuko had been purposefully starving him to which Zuko gave a small huff in response. Sokka had already grabbed Kustaa’s collar so he wouldn’t try to get in the cat’s face and get scratched… for the tenth time this week. (He loved his dog, but damn, he was so dumb sometimes.) Zuko dumped some food into Zeus’ bowl and sat it on the floor. It was quiet, except for the muffled mumblings of Mai and Ty Lee in the bathroom. And unfortunately, Sokka was ready to break that peace. 

“So…” he started, looking up at the back of Zuko’s head. “How’d you sleep?” 

“Fine… You?” Zuko’s shoulder blades pulled closer together, tensing.

“Hmm…” Sokka hummed. Ty Lee’s laugh rang through the apartment, echoing slightly off the tiles. “I slept good. I woke up at two in the morning to get Kustaa. He was trying to break into your room last night.” 

“Oh?” Zuko responded, audibly nonchalant but visibly nervous. 

“Yeah, I think he was just curious, you know?” Sokka was still just talking to Zuko’s back. He hadn’t glanced over at Sokka once. Zuko simply hummed in response, not looking at Sokka, hands gripping the counter. This wasn’t going the way Sokka had expected. 

“You know, I’m planning on being a mental health therapist after grad school,” Sokka commented. Zuko somehow managed to tense further. “If you ever want to just talk, like, I don’t have to give advice or—” 

“I don’t need you to try to fix me, Sokka,” Zuko said, whirling around and finally facing him.  _ Well, fuck. _ Sokka blinked. Zuko’s eyes dropped to the floor.  _ This really isn’t going well. _ Zuko bit his lip slightly, head turning towards Zeus. “I meant to say, thank you but I’m fine.” 

Sokka shook his head. “Really? Because you didn’t sound fine last night.”

At that, Zuko met Sokka’s gaze, staring at him as if he had sprouted three more heads since the last time he had looked at him. Then instead of saying anything further, Zuko walked back to his room, continuously throwing concerned glances over at Sokka. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this fic is supposed to be a mutual growth/healing for Sokka and Zuko (please, call me out if it starts seeming one-sided) and i'm refusing to do miscommunication for angst but instead just letting this have some buckwild energy in it  
> anyway, if you want to look at any of the cultural research I did for this fic you can [check it out here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1p_0L9zkgU1n7LN1TCRaOIC6JGcYjW7wTfrxGNskHZ74/edit?usp=sharing)  
> also feel free to come scream at me on [tumblr](https://planteria.tumblr.com) or down in the comments :)

**Author's Note:**

> please leave comments and kudos if you enjoy this!! :)  
> feel free to come yell at me on [tumblr](https://planteria.tumblr.com) too!


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